THE numbers don?t lie. That is, if they are accurate. But assuming they are, Floyd Mayweather?s rematch with Marcos Maidana raked in impressive statistics: 925,000 pay per view buys and 14,859 fight tickets sold.
Not bad for somebody constantly pilloried in boxing websites. Perhaps fans were willing to shell out money hoping to see ?Money? lose? Whatever the case, the fighter we love to hate is still very much a marketable commodity and remains to be the sport?s number one pound for pound fighter.
STIFFED. Post-fight, Floyd and his posse of 150 strong reportedly visited a restaurant named Rehab and ordered the following: Five bottles of Patrone, six bottles of Ciroc, 21 bottles of Luc Belaire Rose champagne, 200 servings of chicken wings and a fruit platter- all for a grand total of $25, 305 which Floyd himself reportedly never paid as it was written off.
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The bad news is that the waitress, despite reportedly providing excellent service did not even get a tip from Floyd who has arrogated unto himself the ring epithet ?Money.?
No truth to the rumor that the waitress wore a Marcos Maidana shirt.
AGE. Love him or hate him, at age 37, Floyd is still very much a force to reckon with.
He clearly has lost some of his speed and the spring in his legs, but at that age, not many fighters can still beat a marauding maniac like Marcos Maidana.
To me, longevity is another metric of how great a fighter is. Presently, only a few of Floyd?s contemporaries remain. Most of them have retired or literally beaten out of a tough sport- one that is unkind to fighters of advanced ages.
Here?s a list of some of his memorable rivals and let?s see where they are now:
1.) Oscar de la Hoya- The ?Golden Boy? and Floyd fought in 2007 and the latter was lucky to escape with a split decision victory. Oscar dominated the early rounds as he bull-rushed Floyd and pummeled him along the ropes. But his suspect stamina allowed Floyd to rally in the middle rounds. I scored that fight in favor of Oscar and to this day, he remains to be the fighter who came closest to beating Floyd, verdict-wise.
Oscar retired in 2008 at the age of 35 after losing to Manny Pacquiao in eight rounds.
2.) Jose Luis Castillo??El Terrible? fought Floyd twice and gave him a good tough scrap. His aggression earned him the admiration of pundits, some of whom thought he deserved to win the first fight.
He is still currently active and he defeated one Jose Luis Payan via TKO in five rounds in Mexico last May, but has not fought for a world title since losing to Rick Hatton in 2007 via knockout in the fourth round.
3.) Rick Hatton- The ?Hitman? was 43-0 when he met up with Floyd in 2007. His brutal body punching was supposed to be the key to defeating Floyd, but the latter outboxed him beautifully and stopped him in 10 rounds. Ricky briefly retired in 2009 after losing to Pacquiao in 2 rounds. He then went into a funk and battled depression.
He made a comeback in 2012 but lost Vyacheslav Senchenko in 9 rounds. He is now a boxing promoter.
4.) Zab Judah??Super? Judah gave a good account of himself in the first half of their fight in 2006. He should have been credited with a knockdown in the second round as a sneaky right hook caused Floyd to wobble and his glove briefly touched the canvas.
However, Judah couldn?t keep up with Floyd?s activity and the latter won via unanimous decision.
Judah last fought in 2013 and has lost his last two fights via decision.
5.) Arturo Gatti and Diego Corralles- Gatti was a very popular slugger who gained notoriety with his take-no-prisoners approach in the ring. He was totally outclassed by Floyd when they fought back in 2005. He lost via in six rounds. Gatti died in 2009 under mysterious circumstances.
Corralles was also undefeated when he fought Floyd in 2001. At 5?10? , he was expected to give Floyd problems, style-wise, but the latter?s speed proved to be too much and he lost in the 10th round. Corralles died in 2007 in a motorcycle accident.
CROSSFIT PINTADOS. If you have time today, please saunter over to the Ayala Terraces for a free demo session at 3PM. A word of warning though: Don?t? blame me if you get hooked.
LAST ROUND. It?s on my Super Idol teammate whose crossover would make Allen Iverson blush–Atty. Marvin Miralles. Happy birthday and Cheers!
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