This time Floyd Mayweather Jr. left no doubt. The unquestioned No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer in the world handily defeated Marcos Maidana at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday night, cruising to a unanimous decision win just four months after the tough Argentinian sucked Mayweather into a brawl and nearly stole the pair’s first meeting.
Judges John McKaie and Dave Moretti both scored the rematch 116-111 in favor of Mayweather, while Judge Guido Cavalleri had it 115-112. With the win, Mayweather retained his welterweight and light middleweight titles and pushed his undefeated record to 47-0.
While Mayweather allowed himself to get bullied against the ropes and drawn firefights last May, this second outing against Maidana was far more clinical.
The 37-year-old controlled the pace of the fight for lengthy stretches, piling up rounds, keeping Maidana pinned at the end of his jab, and out-landing Maidana by a margin of 166 punches to 128. Maidana attempted to enforce his will with sheer volume, however Mayweather was by far the more accurate fighter throughout, connecting on an impressive 51-percent of his punches, and often leaving Maidana lost without the use of a jab that landed just 17-percent of the time for the challenger despite a whopping 237 attempts.
Notably, the fight took a turn for the bizarre midway through the eighth round, as Mayweather accused Maidana of biting his glove while the two were locked inside the clinch.
“We were tangled up in the center of the ring and the referee was breaking us, and he bit my left hand,” Mayweather said post-fight.
“After the eighth round, my hand was numb. I really couldn’t use my left hand. But I got the victory the best way I know how.”
Immediate replays of the incident were inconclusive, however Maidana insisted that he did not bite the champion.