Days after Floyd Mayweather left the choice of his next opponent between Marcos Maidana and Amir Khan to a public poll, it seems Maidana is the chosen one. Voting goes on until the ninth, but 56 percent of the votes cast so far want Maidana to be Mayweather’s opponent on May 3 at Las Vegas.
It’s a shame that fans had to choose between just two fighters. One can only wonder what the verdict would have been if Manny Paccquiao had been in the mix.
However there are reasons for Mayweather’s rethink. With a 45-0 record, the undefeated American has long talked about a legacy. Ever since there had been the buzz of a possible fight with Khan, it had been expected to be a mismatch. While Khan has once beaten Maidana in a close unanimous decision in 2010 his star has waned since. Khan held once held two major super lightweight belts (140 pounds) until he lost to Lamont Peterson in 2011, and then was knocked out by Danny Garcia in 2012.
From that point of view, a bout against Maidana who has the WBA welterweight title of his own will be better.
Maidana too has done the right things. He already fights for Golden Boy Promotions, which has promoted Mayweather fights since 2007 and last year signed with Al Haymon who has also worked with Mayweather. Signing with Haymon helped Maidana land a fight with Adrien Broner, hyped as a Mayweather clone, last month. A counterpuncher who dominates the center of the ring, he uses the shoulder roll to absorb the majority of punches. Maidana was expected to be an easy win but the hardhitting Argentinian put relentless pressure to earn two knockdowns and a clear points win.
Broner had a rematch clause but hadn’t yet exercised it, providing further hints that Mayweather-Maidana is in the works. Mayweather has faced similar boxers but won convincingly. If Mayweather and Maidan do face off at the MGM Grand, it remains to be seen whether the Argentinian can do any better.
Jonathan is a senior correspondent based in New Delhi.
jonathan.selvaraj@expressindia.com
