The seemingly endless waffling from Floyd Mayweather Jr. and co. has ended, as "Money" announced via Twitter that he would be facing Marcos "El Chino" Maidana on May 3rd. The venue has yet to be decided; Mayweather almost exclusively fights at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where he lives, but Brooklyn's Barclays Center is reportedly making a strong push to host the match.
I will be fighting Marcos Maidana May 3rd on Pay-per-view Showtime/CBS https://t.co/mtj7H8WVxu pic.twitter.com/Rc2N87zcjP — Floyd Mayweather (@FloydMayweather) February 25, 2014
Maidana's main competition to earn the fight was British fighter Amir Khan, but fan backlash seemed to cool his bid. Mayweather is quoted as saying Maidana's recent win over Adrien "The Problem" Broner made him take notice of the powerful welterweight.
"Marcos Maidana's last performance immediately brought him to my attention," Mayweather said. "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 has more recent success to point to than Khan, but his fighting style is also one that fans have seen Mayweather handle in the past. El Chino is well-known as one of the sport's premier power punchers, but he doesn't have particularly fast hands or technical prowess. Still, he was a heavy underdog vs. Broner and was able to dominate.
"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," Maidana said. "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."
Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer said Maidana was chosen over Khan simply because of his knockout potential. "Marcos Maidana is, without question, one of the most exciting fighters in the sport," Schaefer said.
"He is must-see TV. Mayweather is undefeated but with that one punch, Marcos Maidana can certainly change it all for Floyd. Floyd has to fight the perfect fight. Is he capable of doing that? Of course. But can Maidana connect for that one moment? Yes, of course. We saw it in the Broner fight. How is Floyd going to react once he gets hit by Maidana?"
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