Mayweather-Maidana fight week: who has most to prove?

Mayweather-Maidana fight week: who has most to prove?

Its technically fight week for Floyd Mayweather against Marcos Maidana and at Behind The Gloves we will be discussing Saturday’s pay-per-view all week long.

Of every fighter on the PPV portion, who has the most to prove?

Floyd Mayweather: The pound-for-pound King Mayweather has never officially tasted defeat, and at an 11-to-1 favorite, it’s highly unlikely that he will be on the losing end against Marcos Maidana. For Floyd, how important is it that he scored a dominant victory over his opponent?

The expectation is that Mayweather will play it safe and box the ears off of Maidana without putting himself in harm’s way, similar to the way he beat Maidana’s fellow countryman Carlos Baldomir in 2006. Is it important that Floyd not just beat Maidana, but beat him down and try and stop him? Floyd hasn’t stopped an opponent in recent years aside from the controversial KO of Victor Ortiz when Ortiz gifted his chin on a platter and Floyd landed a one-two. A stoppage win would be out of character for Mayweather and would definitely be the best way to end the evening’s festivities.

Marcos Maidana: Maidana earned this fight off the strength of his December domination of Mayweather pal Adrien Broner. While we await to see if Broner’s loss was just a fluke or if he’s really not all we thought he was, Maidana is faced with the task of beating the most dominant fighter of the past quarter century.

Should Maidana fall victim the same way most other Mayweather opponents do and he get outboxed definitively, it would do very little to damage Maidana’s marketability. One thing is that most Mayweather victims have a hard time bouncing back from a loss and rarely make it back to being a top fighter, Canelo Alvarez aside.

Amir Khan: The UK’s Khan arguably has the most to prove out of anyone. Khan missed out on a Mayweather fight after Floyd lead him on for months into thinking he’d be his May 3 opponent. Khan backed out of a fight with Devon Alexander and has sat out more than a year and will now face veteran Luis Collazo.

Collazo is a formidable opponent coming off a career defining KO over Victor Ortiz but still lacks the name recognition necessary for Khan to get lots of credit just for winning.

Coming off a difficult win over Julio Diaz, Khan has to prove he’s got what it takes to compete with Mayweather while also not looking past Collazo. Khan is more or less fighting for a chance to face Floyd and can’t afford any setbacks, putting ultimate pressure on himself.

Luis Collazo: It took a long time for Collazo to earn his way back into a major fight on a major card and he isn’t about to let it all go.

Collazo was fighting off TV as recent as a few years ago, even fighting on an internet PPV at one point. In his biggest challenges, Collazo has come up just short against the likes of Ricky Hatton and Andre Berto and knows now that to get a win over a flashy name, it’s gonna take just a little bit more. Collazo could become the unlikeliest of Mayweather opponents should he dominate Khan, while also representing the best shot at bringing Mayweather to Barclays Center in Brooklyn, being a native. Into his thirties, this maybe represents Collazo’s last chance at becoming a big name player.

Adrien Broner: Broner is coming off a humbling defeat at the hands of Maidana, a loss that spawned thousands of boxing memes from his many detractors. Broner faces light hitting Carlos Molina and must dominate every second in order to dodge the criticism of all who can’t stand him. A win and Maidana loss would setup a rematch between the two, something Broner seems to really want. First, he must look fantastic.

J’Leon Love: Love has now fought twice since escaping with a win last May over Gabriel Rosado on Mayweather’s undercard. He tested positive for a banned substance and was suspended, with the win being changed to a no contest.

That erased Love’s most credible win and again he is out to prove himself in a 50/50 fight against Marco Antonio Periban. Should Love want to be taken seriously as a top super middleweight, dominating Periban is a good place to start and would most likely lead to a title shot.

Marco Antonio Periban: Mexican contenders above the middleweight class are hard to come by and are extremely bankable. Periban showed guts in squeaking out a draw against Badou Jack and just narrowly lost his first vid at becoming champ against Sakio Bika. If Periban wants to avoid becoming a stepping stone, it is necessary he gets by Love, and does so impressively.

Every fighter on Saturday is out to prove something, but Khan carries the most weight on his shoulders. He’s also most likely to face an upset and knows all eyes are on him.

-Mark E. Ortega / @MarkEOrtega
-Managing editor at www.BehindTheGloves.com