Floyd Wasn’t Brilliant, And Maidana Helped Him, So He Didn’t Have To Be

Published

10 years ago

September 15, 2014

Jose Luis Castillo should’ve been awarded the decision over Floyd Mayweather when they fought the first time in 2002.

So much so that HBO house/company judge Harold Lederman scored it 115-111 Castillo and only gave Mayweather four of the 12 rounds the fight went.

Miguel Cotto, albeit it 10 years later, roughed him up and gave Mayweather one of the hardest fights of his stellar career, but Floyd earned in the ring the unanimous decision he was awarded by the judges.

Two years later almost to the day, Marcos Maidana was giving Mayweather perhaps the second toughest fight of his career, but Floyd staged a furious rally during the last third of the bout to seal the majority decision he won.

Then came September 13, 2014 and Mayweather 47-0 (27) fought Maidana 35-5 (31) again in what’s only the second time he’s fought the same opponent twice as a pro. On this night, Maidana was fighting three opponents at the same time and lost to all of them. His first opponent was Mayweather, who was much more focused and purposeful during the rematch than he was during their first confrontation four months ago. The second opponent Maidana was fighting was referee Kenny Bayless, who didn’t allow any inside fighting to evolve, which is as much a part of boxing as body punching is. He constantly made Floyd and Marcos separate whenever they were tied up or in a clinch. And lastly, Maidana was fighting himself being that he was far less effective stylistically this past weekend then he was when they first met in May.

This past Saturday night, Floyd Mayweather looked listless and his combinations didn’t appear to be as strikingly accurate and blunting as they did as recently as his fight with Saul Alvarez a year ago. His offense seemed to lack a big threat and for a notably fluid guy, he has become recognizably brittle. Mayweather seems to have reached the point in his career when whatever natural talent he has starts to work against him. He’s got a first rate boxing brain, but still uses it without quite realizing that he doesn’t have the body to back up some of the things he wants to do. Floyd’s punches looked to lack their usual sting and his combinations were void of their usual imaginative repertoire. This wasn’t one of Floyd’s better nights aethetically and he even said so during his post-fight interview.

Mayweather won a 12-round unanimous decision over Maidana by the scores of 116-111, 116-111 and 115-112. I scored it 10-2 in rounds or 118-110 on points for Mayweather. Floyd controlled the action throughout the bout and was only shook once during the fight. And that came when Maidana landed his best punch of the fight, a right hand to the chin as the bell rang to end the third round. Mayweather was really rocked but his great conditioning enabled him to come out for the fourth round showing no signs of being hurt, and he quickly resumed control of the action.

Here’s more of my takeaway from the fight.

Mayweather looked outstanding for most fighters but it was a little below par for him. As was said here before the fight, Floyd would move a little more this time and he’d get off first with his quick one-twos and right leads. He kept Marcos turning in the corners, and whenever Maidana appeared to be set to either jab or get off, Floyd would either cut loose with a few shots or pull him in, thus forcing Maidana to reset and start over. However, I come away much more disappointed in Maidana than anything else, which really isn’t surprising. It was frustrating watching Maidana standing right in front of Mayweather like a fencer trying to time and calculate his next move, or when it was the right time to advance. That’s called the wait and react game and the slower, less accurate fighter loses the game of tag every time.

Maidana made it easy for Floyd to pick his spots and move to his left or right in order to avoid his sporadic rushes and futile attempts to get close and inside on Mayweather. And if that wasn’t bad enough, Marcos even tried to jab with Floyd without pushing the fight with his feet. Sure, the jab can help him get inside, and that’s where he needed to be in order to turn the boxing match into a fight. The problem was, Maidana left too much space between him and Floyd. This left him a sitting duck and opened the path for Mayweather to get in and out or change directions during the exchanges and that was exactly what Floyd needed to control the fight the way he did.

Either Maidana just isn’t strong enough to force the fight the way he needs to or his corner never let him know that every second you’re not moving your feet towards him, you’re losing. I think that Maidana is a very limited fighter. I got the sense that Robert Garcia was giving him the right instructions in the corner, but that Maidana couldn’t make things happen. It seemed that part of the problem is that he’s not a really physically strong guy. He’s a nice puncher, but he’s not big enough to push people around. But as we saw, he does have enough strength to push Mayweather around, but he was leery of that because doing that is what drained his battery during the first eight rounds of their first fight.

Maidana was really caught in a style conundrum going into the Mayweather rematch. If he fights like a caveman, he can make Floyd uncomfortable and dictate that Mayweather is forced to fight under duress instead of boxing. Only he can’t keep that up for 12-rounds because it takes too much out of him. His other choice was to dial back some of his aggression and pressure. That’s the route he chose for the rematch and that enabled Mayweather to eat him up during the many lulls of the bout. I’m not saying Maidana would’ve won if fought more aggressively and applied more pressure. What I am saying is Mayweather was there to be pushed to the edge of the cliff but Maidana didn’t go about trying to do it the right way strategically. The last thing Floyd wanted was a rough and tumble bout. Sure, Maidana tried to make it ugly with his rough-house tactics. But he wasn’t persistent enough in his aggression, and when he did pick it up in spurts, he was too reckless and wild. He seldom nailed Mayweather with punches he didn’t see.

It’s easy to say if Maidana was more aggressive he might’ve won the fight. But that’s cookbook logic. It sounds great in theory and words, but that’s not application. Had Maidana been more aggressive and caveman like, he probably would’ve been in the fight more. Then again he just may have been knocked out. At his best Marcos Maidana can compete with Floyd Mayweather, he just isn’t good enough to really come close to beating him. And it wouldn’t matter if Freddie Roach or Nacho Beristain were his trainer. The only thing that can be said with certainty is Maidana’s choice of ring strategy dramatically lessened his changes to stay with Mayweather let alone beat him.

Floyd is not quite the maestro he once was, but more than anything else it was Maidana’s poor execution and strategy that paved the way for Mayweather’s resounding one sided victory.

Frank Lotierzo can be contacted at GlovedFist@Gmail.com

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Frank Lotierzo

With Olympic Boxing on the Ropes, Three Elite U.S. Amateurs Shine in Colorado

Published

4 hours ago

November 5, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Three USA boxers won gold medals at the recently concluded World Boxing U19 tournament in Pueblo, Colorado. The tournament, restricted to boxers aged 17 and 18, attracted contestants from 30 nations and a contingent from French Polynesia.

The U.S. team, represented by eight male and six female boxers, secured 11 medals in all, an impressive haul.

The three U.S. gold medalists appear to have very bright futures if they choose to remain in the sport. They are:

Light heavyweight (80 kg) ELIJAH LUGO (Marrietta, GA)

Lugo has purportedly scored 42 stoppages in his amateur career, the most since USA Boxing began keeping track. The record was previously held by his older brother Nathan Lugo who is currently 2-0 (2 KOs) at the professional level. The Lugo brothers are represented by David McWater (Split-T Management). One of boxing’s most influential facilitators, McWater’s clients include Teofino Lopez.

Middleweight (75 kg) JOSEPH AWININGYA JR (Joliet, IL)

The son of a Ghanaian immigrant who had a brief career as a professional boxer, competing as a cruiserweight, the precocious Awiningya, mature for his age, is a college student majoring in marketing who once aspired to become a nurse like his mother.

Flyweight (50 kg) LORENZO PATRICIO (Waianae, Hawai)

One of eight children. Patricio (our poster boy for this story) comes from a boxing family. Two of his sisters are involved in the sport.

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In addition to the three gold medalists, the U.S. men’s team garnered two silver and three bronze. The U.S. women managed only three bronze, somewhat of a disappointment. Lightweight Shamiracle Hardaway (Lagrange, GA), considered one of the favorites, fell to England’s Ella Lonsdale in the semifinals. Ms. Lonsdale has a wonderful surname for a British boxer.

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The best showing was by fast-rising India which had 17 medal winners including three golds. Although boxer Mery Kom (aka Mary Kom) is one of the most popular sports personalities in India, the South Asian nation, the world’s most populous country, has never had a large presence in boxing, amateur or pro. Ten of the 17 Indian medalists, including two of three gold medal winners, were female.

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Tournament organizers noted that the Pueblo event was the first major tournament in the next Olympic cycle. Left unsaid was that boxing as an Olympic sport is on the ropes (pardon the pun). As it now stands, boxing, one of the original Olympic sports, is not on the docket for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.

The International Olympic Committee de-frocked the International Boxing Association, the governing body of amateur boxing, in 2023. The decision was upheld in April by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, an agency headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland.

A new body, World Boxing, emerged from the fallout. The Pueblo tournament bore the imprint of the new organization.

The chairman of World Boxing’s “Olympic Commission” is Gennadiy Golovkin who is also the president of Kazakhstan’s National Olympic Committee. A former Olympic silver medalist whose primary residence is in the Los Angeles area, “GGG” is reportedly fluent in four languages. He is tasked with repairing the rent between boxing and the International Olympic Committee so that boxing can continue to be an Olympic sport. A decision is expected next year.

If successful, it is possible that things may revert to the days when professional boxers were ineligible to compete for Olympic medals.

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Floyd Schofield Wins a Banger and Gabriela Fundora Wins by KO

Published

3 days ago

November 3, 2024

David A. Avila

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Floyd Schofield Wins a Banger and Gabriela Fundora Wins by KO

LAS VEGAS-Shades of Henry Armstrong and Baby Arizmendi. If you don’t know those names, look them up.

Floyd Schofield battled his way past Mexico’s super tough Rene Tellez Giron who walked through every blow the Texan could fire but lost by decision on Saturday.

It was a severe test and perfect matchmaking for Schofield who yearns for the big bouts against the lightweight giants roaming the world.

Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) remains undefeated and won the war over thick-necked Mexican Tellez Giron (20-4, 13 KOs) who has never been knocked out and proved to be immune to big punches.

In the opening rounds, the Texas fighter came out firing rapid combinations from the southpaw and orthodox stances. Meanwhile the shorter Tellez Giron studied and fired back an occasional counter for two rounds.

Tellez Giron had seen enough and took his stand in the third stanza. Both unleashed blazing bombs with Schofield turning his back to the Mexican. At that moment referee Tom Taylor could have waved the fight over.

You never turn your back.

The fight resumed and Schofield was damaged. He tried to open up with even more deadly fire but was rebuked by the strong chin of Tellez Giron who fired back in the mad frenzy.

For the remainder of the fight Schofield tried every trick in his arsenal to inflict damage on the thick-necked Mexican. He could not be wobbled. In the 11^th round both opened up with serious swing-from-the-heels combinations and suddenly Schofield was looking up. He beat the count easily and the two remained slugging it out.

“He hit me with a good shot,” Schofield said of the knockdown. “I just had to get up. I’m not going to quit.”

In the final round Schofield moved around looking for the proper moment to engage. The Mexican looked like a cat ready to pounce and the two fired furious blows. Neither was hit with the big bombs in the last seconds.

There was Tellez Giron standing defiantly like Baby Arizmendi must have stood in those five ferocious meetings against the incomparable Henry Armstrong. Three of their wars took place in Los Angeles, two at the Olympic Auditorium in the late 1930s as the U.S. was emerging from the Great Depression.

In this fight, Schofield took the win by unanimous decision by scores 118-109 twice and 116-111. It was well-deserved.

“I tried to bang it out,” said Schofield. “Today I learned you can’t always get the knockout.”

Fundora

IBF flyweight titlist Gabriela Fundora needed seven rounds to figure out the darting style of Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz before firing a laser left cross down the middle to end the battle and become the undisputed flyweight world champion.

Fundora now holds all four titles including the WBO, WBA and WBC titles that Alaniz brought in the ring.

Fundora knocked down Alaniz midway through the seventh round. She complained it was due to a tangle of the legs. Several seconds later Fundora blasted the Argentine to the floor again with a single left blast. This time there was no doubt. Her corner wisely waved a white towel to stop the fight at 1:40 of the seventh round.

No one argued the stoppage.

Other Bouts

Bektemir Melikuziev (15-1, 10 KOs) didn’t make weight in a title bout but managed to out-fight David Stevens (14-2, 10 KOs) in a super middleweight fight held at 12 rounds.

Melikuziev used his movement and southpaw stance to keep Pennsylvania’s Stevens from being able to connect with combinations. But Stevens did show he could handle “The Bully’s” punching power over the 12-round fight.

After 12 rounds one judge favored Stevens 116-112, while two others saw Melikuziev the winner by split decision 118-110 and 117-111.

Super middleweight WBA titlist Darius Fulghum (13-0, 11 KOs) pummeled his way to a technical knockout win over southpaw veteran Chris Pearson (17-5-1, 12 KOs) who attempted the rope-a-dope strategy to no avail.

Fulghum floored Pearson in the first round with a four-punch combination and after that just belted Pearson who covered up and fired an occasional blow. Referee Mike Perez stopped the fight at 1:02 of the third round when Pearson did not fire back after a blazing combination.

Young welterweight prospect Joel Iriarte (5-0, 5 KOs) blasted away at the three-inch shorter Xavier Madrid (5-6, 2 KOs) who hung tough for as long as possible. At 2:50 of the first round a one-two delivered Madrid to the floor and referee Thomas Taylor called off the beating.

Iriarte, from Bakersfield, Calif., could not miss with left uppercuts and short rights as New Mexico’s Madrid absorbed every blow but would not quit. It was just too much firepower from Iriarte that forced the stoppage.

Photos credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy

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Results and Recaps from Turning Stone where O’Shaquie Foster Nipped Robson Conceicao

Published

3 days ago

November 2, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Top Rank was at the Turning Stone casino-resort in Verona, New York, tonight with an 8-bout card topped by a rematch between Robson Conceicao and O’Shaquie Foster with the victor retaining or recapturing his IBF world junior lightweight title. When the smoke cleared, the operative word was “recapturing” as Foster became a two-time title-holder, avenging his controversial setback to the Brazilian in Newark on July 6.

This was a somewhat better fight than their initial encounter and once again the verdict was split. Foster prevailed by 115-113 on two of the cards with the dissenting judge favoring Conceicao by the same margin. Conceicao seemingly had the edge after nine frames, but Foster, a 4/1 favorite, landed the harder shots in the championship rounds.

It was the thirteenth victory in the last 14 starts for Foster who fights out of Houston. A two-time Olympian and 2016 gold medalist, the 36-year-old Conceicao is 19-3-1 overall and 1-3-1 in world title fights.

Semi-wind-up

SoCal lightweight Raymond Muratalla (22-0, 17 KOs) made a big jump in public esteem and moved one step closer to a world title fight with a second-round blast-out of Jose Antonio Perez who was on the canvas twice but on his feet when the fight was stopped at the 1:24 mark of round two. Muratalla, a product of Robert Garcia’s boxing academy, is ranked #2 by the WBC and WBO. A Tijuana native, Perez (25-6) earned this assignment with an upset of former Olympian and former 130-pound world titlist Jojo Diaz,

Other Bouts

Syracuse junior welterweight Bryce Mills, a high-pressure fighter with a strong local following, stopped scrawny Mike O’Han Jr whose trainer Mark DeLuca pulled him out after five one-sided rounds. Mills improved to 17-1 (6 KOs). It was another rough day at the office for Massachusetts house painting contractor O’’Han (19-4) who had the misfortune of meeting Abdullah Mason in his previous bout.

In a junior lightweight fight that didn’t heat up until late in the final round, Albany’s Abraham Nova (23-3-1) and Tijuana native Humberto Galindo (14-3-3) fought to a 10-round draw. It was another close-but-no- cigar for the likeable Nova who at least stemmed a two-fight losing streak. The judges had it 97-93 (Galindo), 96-94 (Nova) and 95-95.

Twenty-one-year-old Long Island middleweight Jahi Tucker advanced to 13-1-1 (6 KOs) with an eighth-round stoppage of Stockton’s teak-tough but outclassed Quilisto Madera (14-6). Madera was on a short leash after five rounds, but almost took it to the final bell with the referee intervening with barely a minute remaining in the contest. Madera was on his feet when the match was halted. Earlier in the round, Tucker had a point deducted for hitting on the break.

Danbury, Connecticut heavyweight Ali Feliz, one of two fighting sons of journeyman heavyweight Fernely Feliz, improved to 4-0 (3) with a second-round stoppage of beefy Rashad Coulter (5-5). Feliz had Coulter pinned against the ropes and was flailing away when the bout was halted at the 1:34 mark. The 42-year-old Coulter, a competitor in all manner of combat sports, hadn’t previously been stopped when competing as a boxer.

Featherweight Yan Santana dominated and stopped Mexico’s Eduardo Baez who was rescued by referee Charlie Fitch at the 1:57 mark of round four. It was the 12^th knockout in 13 starts for Santana, a 24-year-old Dominican father of three A former world title challenger, Mexicali’s Baez declines to 23-7-2 but has lost six of his last eight.

In his most impressive showing to date, Damian Knyba, a six-foot-seven Pole, knocked out paunchy Richard Lartey at the 2:10 mark of round three. A right-left combination knocked Lartey into dreamland, but it was the right did the damage and this was of the nature of a one-punch knockout. Referee Ricky Gonzalez waived the fight off without starting a count.

Knyba, 28, improved to 14-0 (8 KOs). A native of Ghana coming off his career-best win, a fourth-round stoppage of Polish veteran Andrzej Wawrzyk, Lartey declined to 16-7 with his sixth loss inside the distance.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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