 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date | May 3, 2014 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBA (Unified), WBC, and The Ring welterweight titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mayweather Jr. wins by majority decision in 12 rounds (117–111, 116–112, 114–114) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Marcos Maidana , billed as The Moment, was a professional boxing match contested on May 3, 2014, for the WBA, WBC, and The Ring welterweight championship. [1]
Following his Light middleweight unification against Canelo Álvarez in September 2013, Mayweather announced in March 2014 that he would next face WBA welterweight champion Marcos Maidana in May in order to unify the WBA, WBC and The Ring welterweight titles. It was to be held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States and broadcast on Showtime PPV. There had been interest in a bout with Amir Khan. [2]
Maidana won the WBA title in December 2013 against Mayweather's friend, Adrien Broner. Mayweather explained why he chose Maidana, "Marcos Maidana's last performance immediately brought him to my attention. He is an extremely skilled fighter who brings knockout danger to the ring. I think this is a great fight for me and he deserves the opportunity to see if he can do what 45 others have tried to do before him – beat me." [3]
Maidana was a 12 to 1 underdog going into the fight.
Guaranteed fight purses: Over $37 million total (including most expensive undercard in pay-per-view history, as of May 2014) [4]
The second fight on the PPV card saw former 3-division world champion Adrien Broner return from his first career loss against fringe contender Carlos Molina, who hadn't fought since a loss to Amir Khan in December 2012. The 10 round bout would also be Broner's first professional fight as a light welterweight. [7]
Broner was looking for a rematch with Maidana, claiming that when Maidana lost to Mayweather, he would have to rematch him. [8] [9] Broner was paid $1.25 million and Molina had a $150,000 purse.
Broner, usually flashy and charismatic, fought the bout with less showboating, looking for a clear win. Broner was the aggressor and landed jabs frequently. Molina was game, throwing body shots and attacking Broner's left shoulder, then attempting to come over the top with his right hand, both in the middle of the ring and with Broner on the ropes. Molina also attempted to counter punch Broner and get inside, as Broner had superior reach, Molina had only limited success.
Broner outworked Molina winning the fight via unanimous decision. The three judges scored the fight 100–90, 99–91, and 98–92 in his favour. ESPN scored the fight 99–91 for Broner. [10] [11]
After the fight, Broner took to the microphone and said, "It was a comeback fight and shook the cobwebs off. As you can see I really didn't go through no trouble. It was a sparring match. [The loss] definitely humbled me in some ways but I'm still Adrien 'The Problem' Broner and anyone can get it." [12] [13]
| Title(s) on the line | WBA International and vacant WBC Silver welterweight titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Khan defeats Collazo by unanimous decision | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The co featured bout saw former world champions Amir Khan and Luis Collazo face off in a WBA welterweight title eliminator. [14]
The fight was announced on 24 March. [15] Khan came into the bout after just over a year's absence from ring.
Khan's purse for the fight was $1.5m while Collazo earned $350,000. [16]
Khan was too fast and too disciplined for Collazo, flooring him in the fourth round and twice in the tenth. Khan and Collazo both incurred point deductions in round eight. Collazo hit Khan with a low blow while Khan was holding his head down. Collazo's failed approach resulted in a mismatch on the scorecards. Collazo fought with his hands down most of the night, unafraid of Khan, believing Khan had no power and he would eventually knock him out.
The judges scored the fight 119–104, and 117–106 twice in Khan's favour. [17]
In the post-fight interview in the ring, Khan credited his twelve months of boxing training with Virgil Hunter for his success. [18]
Maidana came out aggressively and maintained that stance throughout the fight forcing Mayweather to engage. Many times in the fight Maidana threw shots at different angles, forcing Mayweather against the ropes.
Mayweather would win the highly contested fight by majority decision. [19] Judge Michael Pernick scored the fight 114–114, a draw. Judge Dave Moretti had it 116–112, and Burt A. Clements scored it 117–111. [20]
CompuBox revealed that Mayweather was hit more times than any of his previous 38 bouts that have been covered by them. Mayweather landed 230 of his 426 punches thrown (54%) while Maidana landed 221 of 858 (26%).
According to Mayweather in the post-fight interview, Maidana's aggressive approach made him change his style of fighting. [21] There were calls for an immediate rematch. Mayweather said, "He put pressure on me and that's when I decided to fight differently," Mayweather said. "I stood there and fought him. He's a good fighter, I take nothing away from him [...] This was a tough, competitive fight. This is what fans want to see. "I want to give fans an exciting fight. Normally, I box and move. Tonight, I gave fans an exciting fight."
Maidana felt he won the fight, believing he gave Mayweather his toughest fight ever.Speaking through a translator, he said, "I definitely think I won. Floyd had never been hit by a man before. I had to change the gloves [after a last-minute problem with his original gloves on Friday] and I still gave him a great fight. He did dominate some rounds but the majority, I dominated them." [22]
The fight generated around 900,000 PPV buys, although exact figures were not released by Showtime. The revenue of PPV sale amounted to $58 million. [23]
The two fought again later that year where Mayweather won again.
The fight was sold out, grossing US$15 million at the live gate, the fourth highest of any boxing event in Las Vegas. [4] It sold an estimated 900,000 buys on pay-per-view, [24] the year's highest-selling PPV up until May 2014, grossing an estimated $63 million in pay-per-view revenue, bringing the event's total revenue to an estimated $78 million. [4]
Confirmed bouts: [25]
| Weight Class | vs. | Method | Round | Time | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welterweight | Floyd Mayweather Jr. (c) | def. | Marcos Maidana | MD | 12/12 | Note 1 | |||
| Welterweight | Amir Khan | def. | Luis Collazo | UD | 12/12 | Note 2 | |||
| Light welterweight | Adrien Broner | def. | Carlos Molina | UD | 10/10 | ||||
| Super middleweight | J'Leon Love | def. | Marco Antonio Peribán | UD | 10/10 | ||||
| Preliminary bouts | |||||||||
| Cruiserweight | Andrew Tabiti | def. | John Shipman | TKO | 5/6 | 2:11 | |||
| Light welterweight | Ronald Gavril | def. | Tyrell Hendrix | TKO | 3/8 | 1:58 | |||
| Middleweight | Anthony Ogogo | def. | Jonel Tapia | TKO | 3/8 | 0:46 | |||
| Welterweight | Ashley Theophane | def. | Angino Perez | TKO | 4/8 | 2:44 | |||
| Super middleweight | Lanell Bellows | def. | Thomas Gifford | TKO | 2/6 | 1:17 | |||
| Welterweight | Ladarius Miller | def. | Richard Colas | TKO | 3/4 | 0:58 | |||
^Note 1 For WBC, WBA & The Ring welterweight titles
^Note 2 For WBA International and WBC Silver welterweight titles
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
 Argentina | TV Pública Digital |
 Australia | Main Event |
 Panama | RPC-TV |
 United Kingdom | BoxNation |
 United States | Showtime PPV |