LAS VEGAS ? Key facts for the Floyd Mayweather-Marcos Maidana welterweight title unification:
Who: Floyd Mayweather (46-0, 26 KOs), Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, vs. Marcos Maidana (35-4, 31 KOs), Margarita, Santa Fe, Argentina
What: A 12-round fight for Mayweather’s World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association welterweight championships (147 pounds), and Mayweather’s WBC super welterweight championship (154 pounds)
When: 10:30 p.m. ET, 7:30 p.m. PT tonight (time approximate)
Where: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas
TV: Showtime Pay-Per-View, 8 p.m.
FAST FACTS ? The PPV start time moves an hour earlier in an experiment by Showtime to determine whether the change might lure more viewers in the U.S. Eastern time zone.
? Mayweather makes his third defense of the WBC welterweight title that he has held since knocking out Victor Ortiz on Sept. 17, 2011, and first defenses of the WBA welterweight title (which he won from Maidana in May) and WBC super welterweight title (which won from Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on Sept. 14, 2013).
? Mayweather’s championship history: WBC super featherweight (130 pounds); WBC lightweight (135); WBC super lightweight (140); WBA, WBC and International Boxing Federation welterweight (147); WBC and WBA Super super welterweight (154). He held two of those titles on two different occasions (WBC welterweight and WBC super welterweight).
? Maidana previously held the WBA welterweight title, which he won last December from Adrien Broner and lost to Mayweather in his first defense, and the WBA super lightweight title (140), which he won via fourth-round knockout of Petr Petrov in 2011 but never defended. Maidana lost two other title bids, via 2009 split decision to Andriy Kotelnik and 2010 unanimous decision to Amir Khan, both for the WBA super lightweight title.
MLive.com previews Mayweather-Maidana II MLive.com’s David Mayo and Josh Slagter preview Floyd Mayweather’s rematch against Marcos Maidana, set for Saturday night at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. ? Mayweather is 23-0 (10 KOs) in championship bouts but more than half of those knockouts came when he was 130-pound champion. He was 9-0 (6 KOs) in title bouts at that weight.
? Maidana is 2-3 in championship bouts.
? When a fight goes the 12-round distance, Mayweather is 16-0, Maidana 3-3.
? Mayweather fights the second rematch of his career. He defeated Jose Luis Castillo by unanimous decision twice in 2002, in lightweight title bouts. Maidana fought two lower-level rematches early in his career, winning all four bouts against those opponents by early knockouts.
? Two common opponents: Both decisioned DeMarcus Corley, Mayweather in 2004, Maidana in 2010; and both knocked out Victor Ortiz, Mayweather in the fourth round in 2011, Maidana in the sixth round in 2009.
? Referee is Kenny Bayless of Nevada.
? Judges are Dave Moretti of Nevada, John McKaie of New York, and Guido Cavalleri of Italy.
Floyd Mayweather ready to ‘master’ Marcos Maidana in rematch Floyd Mayweather says he’s faster and stronger heading into his second fight against Marcos Maidana. (Video by Josh Slagter | MLive.com) ? Mayweather will earn a guaranteed base purse of $32 million, to Maidana’s $3 million (the latter’s purse is expected to be subsidized by Argentine television money that never leaves that country, a common tax hedge by foreign fighters who compete in major U.S. bouts). That gives Mayweather the four largest base purses in boxing history: $41.5 million for last year’s fight against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, and $32 million each for last year’s fight against Robert Guerrero and this year’s two Maidana bouts.
? Maidana is Mayweather’s third championship opponent from Argentina and second from the province of Santa Fe, along with Carlos Rios (1999). Carlos Baldomir (2006) also is from Argentina.
? By the time Maidana made his professional debut in 2004, Mayweather had won 13 championship fights.
? In 11 fights since he won his first title at welterweight in 2006, against Zab Judah, and including that bout, Mayweather has fought all or part of 122 out of 132 scheduled rounds. Maidana has boxed 181 rounds his entire career.
? Leo Santa Cruz (27-0-1, 15 KOs), of Huetamo, Michoacan, Mexico, defends his WBC super bantamweight title (122 pounds) against Manuel Roman (17-2-3, 6 KOs), of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. It is the third defense for Santa Cruz, who previously held the IBF bantamweight crown (118 pounds). His gross purse is $750,000, to Roman’s $50,000.
? Miguel Vazquez (34-3, 13 KOs), of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, defends his IBF lightweight title (135 pounds) against Mickey Bey (20-1-1, 10 KOs), of Cleveland. It is the seventh defense for Vazquez, whose only losses were to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez twice in early-career bouts, one of them Vazquez’s pro debut, and Timothy Bradley. Bey is promoted by Mayweather Promotions. Vazquez’s purse is $450,000, to Bey’s $125,000.
? In the PPV opener, middleweights Alfredo Angulo (22-4, 18 KOs), of Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, and James De La Rosa (22-2, 13 KOs), of San Benito, Texas, meet in a bout with a 162-pound contractual limit. Angulo will gross $500,000 to De La Rosa’s $43,000.
? Before the PPV telecast, Showtime will show one fight on its main channel between former world champion Humberto Soto (64-8-2, 35 KOs), of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, and John Molina (27-4, 22 KOs), of Covina, California, USA, in a 140-pound bout scheduled for 10 rounds. Soto will gross $150,000 to Molina’s $125,000.
TALE OF THE TAPE ? Birthdate: Mayweather Feb. 24, 1977; Maidana July 17, 1983 ? Age: Mayweather 37; Maidana 31 ? Weight: Mayweather 146.5 pounds; Maidana 146 ? Height: Mayweather 5-8; Maidana 5-9 ? Reach: Mayweather 72″; Maidana 72″ ? Chest (normal): Mayweather 38 1/2″; Maidana 36 1/2″ ? Chest (expanded): Mayweather 39 1/2; Maidana 38″ ? Biceps: Mayweather 12.5″; Maidana 13″ ? Forearm: Mayweather 11″; Maidana 10 1/2″ ? Waist: Mayweather 31″; Maidana 30″ ? Thigh: Mayweather 22″; Maidana 21 1/4″ ? Calf: Mayweather 15″; Maidana 14″ ? Neck: Mayweather 16 1/2″; Maidana 15 1/2″ ? Wrist: Mayweather 7″; Maidana 7″ ? Fist: Mayweather 8″; Maidana 10″
