Mayweather vs. Maidana is a Done Deal:
This just in — literally minutes ago. Floyd Mayweather’s next fight is finally confirmed for May 3rd. He will be taking on Marcos Maidana, as had been pretty clear to just about anybody who was following the drawn out process over the past month. Sorry Amir Khan, maybe you should have fought Devon Alexander instead of waiting around and complaining.
Mayweather and Leonard Ellerbe both sent out a Tweet at nearly the exact same time, about 7:54 pm Eastern on Monday night.
Mayweather said:
“I will be fighting Marcos Maidana May 3rd on Pay-per-view Showtime/CBS”
Ellerbe said simply:
“Mayweather vs Maidana”
Here are the photos of those Tweets:
UPDATE:
Even in the time it was taking us to put together the breaking announcement that Mayweather vs. Maidana is official, the PR team sent out the official release. Check out the opening quotes from the fighters and some more details on the event below:
Mayweather vs. Maidana Official Announcement:
After weeks of speculation, including feedback from fans across an array of social media platforms, Floyd “Money” Mayweather will face the dangerous Marcos “El Chino” Maidana on Saturday, May 3, live on SHOWTIME PPV.
Mayweather vs. Maidana, a 12-round world championship unification bout for Mayweather and Maidana’s respective 147-pound titles, is promoted by Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions. The event will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV and is the third fight of a lucrative six-fight deal with Showtime Networks Inc.
Mayweather vs. Maidana will pit the brilliance of Mayweather against the power of the Argentine slugger.
Mayweather’s opening quotes:
“Marcos Maidana’s last performance immediately brought him to my attention,” said Mayweather, who celebrates his 37th birthday today.
“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.”
Maidana’s opening quotes:
“I am extremely happy to be facing Floyd Mayweather because it will give me the opportunity to show the world that I am the best welterweight in the division.
“I just handed a great defensive fighter his first loss and I plan to do the same to Mayweather. I don’t care whether he’s the best and undefeated. I will bring some real Latino power to him on May 3rd.”
“This is an extremely dangerous fight for Floyd as Marcos Maidana is a technical knock-out artist and continues to show us that he gets better with each fight,” said Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions. “Maidana showed so much in his last performance, he’s clearly at the top of his game and a great match-up for Floyd.”
Mayweather (45-0, 26 KOs), undeniably the sport’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter and a 10-time world champion, is coming off of a spectacular 2013 in which he continued to display his ring prowess with dominating victories over Robert Guerrero and Canelo Alvarez. In Maidana, Mayweather is arguably facing the most demanding and troublesome opponent of his heralded, 17-year Hall Of Fame career.
Maidana (35-3, 31 KOs), of Margarita, Santa Fe, Argentina, captured the attention of boxing and sports fans around the world with his thorough defeat of the highly regarded and undefeated Adrien Broner on Dec. 14, 2013. The 30-year-old impressively dominated Broner from the opening bell and registered two knockdowns against the three-time world champion. Maidana connected with a punishing 231 power punches in the bout en route to a unanimous decision by margins of 117-109, 115-109 and 115-110.
The resounding victory over the heavily favored Broner was the fourth in a row for the crowd-pleasing, offensive-minded Maidana. A former WBA 140-pound world champion, Maidana’s hard-charging, aggressive style has earned him knockouts in 82 percent of his wins. The remarkable ratio of knockouts ties the late Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo for the highest knockout percentage of any Mayweather opponent to date and is one of the highest of any current fighter at the world-class level.
Mayweather set in motion a flurry of online polls following a message posted to his Twitter and Instagram accounts (@floydmayweather) on Sunday, Feb. 2 asking fans to voice their opinion on his next opponent. Through the accumulation of more than 100,000 votes on the various online polls, more than 100,000 comments on Mayweather’s Facebook and Instagram pages, as well as nonstop fan Tweets, Mayweather saw an overwhelming majority favor Maidana.
“In Marcos Maidana, Floyd Mayweather may be in for his toughest opponent ever,” said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions.
“Maidana is the type of fighter who will find out if Floyd still belongs on top of the pound-for-pound list. He’s strong, tough and aggressive. He in giving Adrien Broner his first loss, he showed that he won’t be intimidated by talk, a big fight atmosphere or an unbeaten record. I give Floyd a lot of credit for stepping up to the plate and testing himself once again. He is a true warrior, and the fans will be the winners on May 3rd.”
“The first two events in our partnership with Floyd Mayweather were incredible and SHOWTIME PPV is proud to present the next chapter in Floyd’s remarkable career,” said Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President and General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports®.
“Marcos Maidana is a boxer whose fearsome power can change the trajectory of a fight with a single punch. Couple that with his ferocity and perseverance and you have the recipe for an incredible fight on the grandest stage of the sport.”
It’s Mayweather vs. Maidana on May 3rd, folks. Stay tuned for more updates on the fight, including what’s sure to be all the details on tickets and the opening press tour coming shortly.
