As many fans hoped after as close of a fight as the pound-for-pound king has been in in the past several years, Floyd Mayweather Jr. said that the rematch with Marcos Maidana is on for Sept. 13 (per The Daily Mail).
In an interview with LaTen Media (h/t Bleacher Report) following the BET Music Awards this past weekend, Mayweather said the rematch with the 30-year-old Argentinian was a go.
“”September 13, back to business, Marcos Maidana vs. Floyd Mayweather Part II. Then in May, I’ll have a big surprise for you,” Mayweather said.
Mayweather, 37, stated before the first bout with Maidana that he was going to go toe to toe with Maidana to ensure a more fan friendly bout, as fans complain about Mayweather being boring at times when he is his usual defensive-dominant self.
Maidana had some early success in May against “Money May”, leaving Mayweather’s face looking like he had been in a brawl which is not the norm—hence one of his many nicknames, Pretty Boy—Mayweather adjusted to Maidana’s style and took over the fight around half way through the 12 round affair.
Many speculate—myself included—that a second go round with Maidana might be a more typical Mayweather fight, as he will likely go back to his usual fight game of being a counter puncher, picking off Maidana as he mounts his attack. This will make the bout the same old Mayweather-dominant fight and could leave the fans moaning of a boring fight.
One cannot take away from Maidana’s performance and say it was all due to Mayweather trying to be more exciting, and it will be interesting to see of Maidana can bring any surprises to the table in the rematch, as him coming forward and trying to push the action won’t work this time around.
It is surprising that this rematch was made, especially with the speculation that the first fight between the two failed to generate a million pay-per-view buys (per SI.com), but with how the first fight turned out there might be more interest the second time around.
In the same interview Mayweather teased his fans by saying there is a surprise coming for his May 2015 bout, but didn’t elaborate on the statement further.
This “surprise” will lead to mass speculation that Mayweather and longtime rival Manny Pacquiao will finally meet in the ring to settle who the real pound-for-pound best of a generation is.
Doing anything to stoke those flames without anything set in stone is a bad move on Mayweather’s part because his camp and he have grown tired of talking about a potential blockbuster fight between “Pacman” and “Money May”.
Another possible outcome of the May surprise could be a fight with British star Amir Khan to take place in England. Khan could have been Mayweather’s Sept. 13 opponent but Khan will be observing Ramadan throughout the month and will be unavailable to fight.
It has been speculated that if Khan can win his next fight with whoever it may be with that he would land the fight he has been campaigning for over the past several years.
Mayweather said he wants a fight at Wembly Stadium (per ESPN.co.uk) in London, England before he retires and a match up with Khan would be a huge success. One only has to look at the turnout for Carl Froch’s win in the rematch with George Groves last month that put 80,000 fans in the world famous arena to know a Mayweather-led event would generate similar numbers.
