Sport 360°view: Bout with Manny essential for Floyd’s boxing legacy

Andy Lewis 07:46 15/09/2014
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  • Victorious yet again: Floyd Mayweather beat Marcos Maidana in a convincing manner.

    He may well be the world’s pound-for-pound best but Money did not give boxing fans much value for theirs.

    Between Floyd Mayweather’s groping, referee Kenny Bay­less’ policing of Marcos Maidana and the Argentine’s regressive performance, a bout billed as ‘Mayhem’ delivered little more than tedium. The only excitement – Mayweather being genuinely buzzed by a thudding right in the final seconds of the third round aside – came from the sideshow.

    The American mocked a dazed Maidana for trying to go to the wrong corner and also accused him of biting his hand in the eighth.

    At the time Mayweather was crudely rubbing his glove in his opponent’s face yet quite how Maidana bit through a gum shield and a boxing glove to ‘Suarez’ the champion is another matter.

    Money claimed the bite left him numb – not half as numb as those who forked out for a ticket or a pay-per-view subscription. He might well be the finest fighter of his gen­eration, but his latest outing saw him booed at the final bell, landing one solitary punch as he danced his way through the final stanza.

    It capped a business-like display from the welterweight king, landing around 50 per cent of his punches while combating Maidana’s pressure with a mixture of footwork and timely clinches. The latter were too frequently allowed by Bayless, who also aided May­weather’s cause by making in-fighting virtually impossible with his fastidious interventions.

    Maidana’s chances went from slim to none, precisely the same level of entertainment on offer.

    Of course you can always marvel at Mayweather’s array of skills, but watching him deploy them on an overmatched opponent was plainly dull. It was a measured perform­ance, fulfilling installment number four of a blockbuster six-fight TV deal. He explained his safety-first strategy as not wanting to endan­ger a legacy that two wins over Maidana will have done little to en­hance.

    Mayweather says he’ll retire after two more fights and we can only hope one of them is against Manny Pacquiao. Great fighters are remembered for great rivalries.

    What is Ali without Frazier and Foreman? Hagler, Hearns, Leonard and Duran without each other?

    Yes, there are still many reasons why it won’t happen and, yes, it loses relevance with each passing day. But unless it does, Floyd risks being remembered for the one fight he didn’t have. 

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