JUST as we had expected, the rematch followed a similar patter as the first bout, but with a drastically toned down demeanor.
Blame that on Floyd Mayweather Jr. who was determined not to repeat the mistakes he made the first time they clashed.
This time around, he utilized the ring a lot more and though he has clearly lost most of his foot speed, it was enough to thwart Marcos Maidana?s offensive rhythm.
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Of course, Maidana was also equally to blame for failing to bring the same level of aggression and ferocity in the rematch.
THE FIGHT. Maidana came out aggressive early, but didn?t exactly bull-rush Mayweather the way he did in their first encounter.
Maidana landed some hooks to the body but in the second round, while Mayweather scored with lead right hands and uppercuts.
This time around, ?Money May? seemed determined to create some space between him and his relentless rival. Not only that, Mayweather stayed off the ropes a lot more and clinched whenever Maidana was able to mount an offensive spurt.
The latter landed a good right hand at the end of the third round, but Floyd quickly recovered.
Maidana?s offense was largely ineffective in the middle rounds and the crowd started booing with the repetitive pattern of Maidana charging and Floyd moving and holding.
In the eighth, things got interesting when after a clinch, Floyd complained that Maidana bit his hand through his glove.
Maidana came alive in the championship rounds, but it was a case of ?too little, too late? and in the 12th round, sensing that the fight was in the bag, Floyd moved a lot more, clearly unwilling to take any unnecessary risks.
The scores were 116-111 twice and a surprising 112-115 even after a point deduction on Maidana.
MAIDANA. Perhaps he too was intent on not gassing out the way he did in the first fight, and wanted to conserve his energy throughout the entire 12 rounds- but Maidana certainly lacked the passion and the frenetic energy.
Maybe he planned on turning up the heat in the second half of the fight, but by then, Floyd had already amassed a massive lead, and Maidana wasn?t able to offer up anything new.
I?m a bit disappointed in Chino. He had a legitimate chance at pulling off an upset, based on his performance in the first fight. The rematch was the last great opportunity of his career.
He should have gone for broke the minute they unleashed him on Mayweather, damned be the consequences. If he had to die from exhaustion in the 10th round, so be it.
On his tombstone the following fistic prose would have been etched:
?Here lies a fighter named Chino;
Who gave no rest in the ring, to friend or foe.
He fell chasing down a cowardly Mayweather;
A warrior to be deified forever;?
I exaggerate of course, but you get the point.
MAYWEATHER. Clearly, he?s not the same fighter anymore. Nobody is, at 37 years of age.
The spring in his legs is gone, and at times he looked pretty vulnerable clinching and clinging on to his marauding opponent.
His accusation that Maidana- who was wearing a mouthpiece, bit his hand through his glove seems a little specious. Even more so the allegation that his hand went numb.
(I looked up the word ?Maidana? in Wikipedia. No references at all to any venomous creatures on two legs)
I don?t know about you, but that is a sign of a tired, weary fighter.
But still you have to respect the fact that he?s still the best tactician out there, and knows his way around the ring to get a win.
He obviously still has 2-3 fights left in him. Will one of those be against our very own Manny Pacquiao?
His startling revelation during the post ?fight interview got everybody talking again about this overly-hyped match-up again.
Before you get too excited, let?s wait first and see how Manny does against Chris Algieri in November.
LAST ROUNDS. Are on my favorite lawyer-twins, who recently celebrated their birthdays: Atty Carrie De la Serna-Unchuan and Atty. Marie De la Serna-Teves. Cheers!
