Floyd Mayweather Jr. survived a bite to his left hand in the eighth round and retained his world welterweight titles Saturday night with a 12-round unanimous decision over Marcos Maidana at the MGM Grand Garden.
Judges Dave Moretti and John McKaie each scored the fight 116-111, and Guido Cavallerie had it 115-112 as the 37-year-old Mayweather improved to 47-0.
Mayweather also won the first fight between the two, taking a majority decision May 3 at the MGM Grand.
?He?s a wild, young fighter,? Mayweather said. ?I got a couple of bumps and bruises, and I got hit with some shots tonight that I shouldn?t have got hit with.?
Mayweather fought a much smarter fight this time around, keeping it in the middle of the ring and using his superior boxing skills to frustrate Maidana (35-5). That frustration appeared to boil over during the eighth round, when Maidana appeared to have bit Mayweather on the left hand as the two were engaged in a clinch.
The illegal move by Maidana came with Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson in the Grand Garden in attendance. They were involved in the infamous bite fight in 1997 in the same ring when Tyson bit Holyfield?s ear twice and was disqualified.
Mayweather complained to referee Kenny Bayless about the foul, shaking his left hand trying to get some feeling back into it.
?My hand went numb,? Mayweather said. ?He bit my fingers, and I couldn?t use my left hand after the eighth round.?
Maidana denied biting Mayweather, saying Mayweather rubbed his glove in his face.
?How could they say I bit him wearing a mouthpiece?? Maidana said. ?I?m not a dog.?
He also thought the judges were too generous to Mayweather.
?I thought I won, but maybe I?m wrong,? Maidana said. ?Maybe the judges love fighters who run. To get this kind of result is not fair. I don?t need to fight him again.?
Mayweather said he followed his father and trainer Floyd Sr.?s game plan to hit and not get hit.
?I stayed off the ropes this time,? said Mayweather, who made $32 million (Maidana got $3 million). ?But I give myself a C, C-. I could have done better.?
