Floyd Mayweather recently announced he will have a rematch (the second of his career) with Marcos Rene Maidana (35-4) of Argentina on September 13 at the MGM Grand in Vegas. Money will look to run his record to 47-0 while defeating a man some think got the better of him in their first fight in May. In my opinion Floyd won that fight 115-113. I can see a couple of rounds that were close calls and maybe this fight could have been scored a draw, but in no way was Maidana better. It reminded me of the only other time in his career that Floyd has ever really come close to defeat – in 2002 against the Lightweight Champion of the World Jose Luis Castillo. Let’s revisit that fight round-by-round and see if Mayweather really deserves the 0 in 46-0.
1. As the fight begins Floyd has a somewhat absent-minded look on his face. It’s a look that says “I don’t give a shit.” It also makes him appear as if he is mindlessly about to start a workout he’s done so many times that concentration has become unnecessary. He measures Castillo twice and then unleashes his signature lead hook that lands with authority. Floyd strikes to the body, doubles-up on the jab, then throws his first right hand of the fight which misses – but forces Castillo to walk right into another left and a glancing right. Floyd easily ducks a feeble counter and is gone. Vintage Mayweather – he wins the round easily. (10-9 Floyd)
2. Again the round begins with Floyd landing a lightning-quick lead hook, this one drops Castillo like a sack of potatoes. Referee Vic Drakulich then makes his first of many atrocious decisions and rules it a slip. Drakulich claimed Floyd stepped on Castillo’s foot causing him to fall, but Castillo actually tripped over his own foot. When they reengage Floyd lands a double left hook followed by a right as he leaps out of Castillo’s range. Castillo stumbles after Floyd and throws a 1-2 which Floyd avoids by moving his head and feet backward – smooth and simultaneous – like at one time only Ali could. He is then about to leap away to safety again when Castillo comes with another clunky 1-2 (seemingly thrown in slow-motion compared to the speed with which Floyd is operating) and they bash heads, with Floyd clearly getting the worst of it. This has an immediate effect as Castillo lands his first real shot of the fight: a jab, followed by a 1-2, a clubbing left hook, and finally a straight right up the middle to the mush. This backs Floyd to the ropes but out of nowhere he dances through a combo and lands a thudding counter right and a jab as he leaps away. Floyd lands to the head and body to close the round. Floyd wins this round on all cards as he should, but he wins 10-9 instead of 10-8 due to the blown call. (20-18 Floyd)
3. Both fighters are game and in attack mode. Floyd works the body then lands a vicious jab that cracks off Castillo’s face. From time to time Floyd will switch to southpaw, but sometimes he doesn’t go all the way – instead he fights square-shouldered and gallops across his opponent against the grain hitting him with a jab on the way by. This frustrates Castillo but he continues to walk down Floyd. Castillo had cut off the ring a few times earlier but this time he’s finally able to bottle-up Floyd on the ropes and lands a 1-2, but ends the round eating a couple of jabs. All three judges (and me) gave this round to Floyd. However, well-respected HBO commentator Harold Lederman gives it to Castillo. Lederman (whom I almost always agree with) had a final score of 115-111 Castillo, which is one of the main factors contributing to the controversial decision. Lederman got this one dead wrong. There is no way you can score this round for Castillo, he landed two punches. (30-27 Floyd)
4. Again a lead hook thuds off Castillo’s head. A frustrated Castillo charges in but only to be met with a beautiful counter combo from Floyd, who then comes over the top with a booming right. Castillo gets in a few jabs but then gets drilled with (you guessed it) a lead hook. Frustrated again he charges in and clinches, then begins to kidney punch Floyd and gets warned. Mayweather shoots a lead uppercut; his speed is now beginning to twist Castillo into knots. It’s obvious at this point Floyd is a million times faster than his opponent as usual. If Castillo is to have any chance he will have to trap Floyd on the ropes/in the corner and turn the boxing match into a street brawl. Finally Castillo is able to trap Floyd on the ropes and lands two punches followed by a solid uppercut to end the round – not nearly enough to win it though. (40-36 Floyd)
5. Floyd lands a haymaker right to the temple – a punch that knocks down most fighters – but Castillo fights through and is tagged again for his troubles. Castillo corners Floyd but BAM! A left hook from a southpaw stance and Floyd is gone. Floyd continues to jump and twist from southpaw to orthodox with the grace of a slalom skier. He appears to be trying to get in a quick core workout while the fight is taking place. It’s been so easy for him to this point why not? Castillo corners Floyd again and gets off a short left uppercut after which Floyd slips out. Castillo charges in with some sloppy, looping punches and Floyd (toying now) places one hand on top of Castillo’s ducking head and with the other pops him with a short uppercut, smirks, disappears. Pretty Boy pitching a shutout. (50-45 Floyd)
6. The sixth round is the turning point of the fight. Castillo gets Floyd against the ropes and lands a big straight right (his best punch of the night) and then a combo moments later. Next it’s an overhand right and he basically shoves Floyd to the ground as they get twisted around in a clinch. After a good exchange Castillo lands two low blows to punctuate the round and break up the shutout. (59-55 Floyd)
7. Floyd goes to the body, jabs to the face. Castillo backs him down to the ropes and clubs him a couple. Floyd to the body, jab to the face, shuffles his feet and there’s that lead hook again, and then another connects but this time Castillo returns fire with a hook of his own to start a brilliant combo: a double jab and a straight right. A lead hook up top, two clubbing hooks to the body, an overhand right to the lips, two more clubbers to the gut, and then he misses the finishing uppercut by an inch and the bell rings. Floyd smiles. We got ourselves a fight; two in a row for Castillo. (68-65 Floyd)
8. This is a pretty even round; everything that is thrown gets answered. It is now clear (as it was with Floyd’s speed earlier) that Castillo’s punches are landing with more authority. He’s now consistently able to trap Floyd on the ropes and score. Castillo doubles up to the body again. They drill each other with hooks simultaneously. They exchange and clinch, the ref steps in and for some reason Castillo takes a cheap shot right to the kisser way after the ref said to break and right under his nose for a stupid one point deduction. Castillo would have won the round but it ends 9-9 because of the cheap shot. (77-74 Floyd)
9. The tension is high as the crowd senses that they are witnessing a close, fantastic fight. The fighters have two vicious exchanges and the crowd roars. Castillo lands his third borderliner of the fight and chases Floyd back to ropes but gets smacked in the puss as he comes in. After that the round is dead even. The fighters seem have entered a new level of concentration, each realizing they’ve met their match. Floyd no longer looks distracted and Castillo is no longer looking clunky. The brawler and the boxer, it just doesn’t get any better. Well after the bell Floyd tags Castillo right in front of the ref – who stops to think…but does nothing. This is the second bad call of the night as he took a point away from Castillo for doing the exact same thing in the previous round. It does however cancel out his other bad call in a way – as now at least both fighters have one more point than they should. This round could go either way and is nearly impossible to score. Nonetheless, whichever way you score it could end up being the decisive factor in a very close match. Castillo has taken over control of the fight and Floyd deserved a penalty so I give it to Jose. (86-84 Floyd)
10. Mayweather lands a string of lead rights. His speed seems to be returning as he connects down the center with a jab then a cross, delays, jabs and leaps to safety – just like earlier in the fight. Conditioning has never been an issue for Floyd and it shows, as this round is all Floyd sticking and moving. With about one minute left he pops Castillo’s head back with an uppercut. Then a big time double hook, a heavy straight right and all of a sudden Castillo is reeling. Jose then inexplicably puts his arms around Floyd’s waist and jumps behind him (kind of like a “switch” in wrestling) and from behind punches him directly in the back twice and the referee does nothing. The inept ref then warns MAYWEATHER moments later for using his forearm to push Castillo off of him (which he does all the time in every fight, and had been doing all night in this one as well.) They trade blows against the ropes, move to the center and the ref moves into all-time bad territory and takes a point from Floyd for what amounted to using his forearm to block the onrushing Castillo. Floyd has delivered billions of forearm shivers in his career but this just wasn’t one of them. Sure, had the ref simply waited another minute or so Floyd would have probably done it again but this one seemed like the ref was looking to make a call and made a bad one. That’s three bad calls (four if you count not taking a point from Castillo earlier in the round) by Drakulich and two in as many rounds. Listening to commentator Larry Merchant complain about the officiating on the broadcast is classic. Castillo then connects on five or six body shots in a row before the bell. Floyd was way better in this round but the bogus point deduction gives us another 9-9 round. (95-93 Floyd)
11. Floyd opens with three quick punches and Castillo goes low again, the ref steps in and breaks it up. Next Floyd lands a counter 1-2 off the ropes and leaps to safety as usual. Then the fun begins. The last two minutes of this round are a thing of beauty. They stand toe-to-toe, center of the ring. Each puts his head on the others shoulder and they stand and fire, shot after shot for two straight minutes. It’s a classic old-school round, one of the best you’ll ever see. Another near impossible round to score, and again, whomever you score it for gets a huge advantage in a close fight. Mayweather wins it in my book for standing up and stopping Castillo from charging in while giving and taking with the brawler and looking faster and crisper. Castillo had turned the battle into his kind of fight – a brawl – and Floyd was still beating him to the punch. If it really was an old school fight, and they had to go 15, Mayweather looks like he’d win it going away. (105-102 Floyd)
12. Castillo hits yet another low blow combo to start the final round. Floyd doubles-up on his jab but Castillo keeps coming. Floyd is quick but Castillo is a steamroller and he lands a combo to the body then proceeds to batter Floyd for the final 30 seconds and wins the round by a mile. (FINAL SCORE: 114-112 Floyd.)
If you score the classic 11th round for Castillo (which I can’t argue against although I gave it to Floyd) my scorecard becomes a draw. I can’t see Castillo deserving any better than that. So the final verdict is the same as the Maidana fight – maybe a draw, but in no way can the argument be made that Mayweather was second-best on either night. He’s truly undefeated, like him or not. Let’s see if he obliterates Maidana the second time around like he did Castillo.
At the press conference to announce the Maidana rematch Mayweather said “After I take care of business with Maidana, my next fight will be in May – and I’ll have a big surprise for y’all.” If you’re hoping he means The Pac-Man like I am, then on September 13 we should all be rooting for 47-0.
Article By: Anthony Schiano
