Making The Rounds: Mayweather Seeks Maidana Rematch
But don't hold your breath, especially now that the formal announcement of Mayweather's Sept. 13 Showtime PPV fight, likely to be a rematch against Maidana, is probably just days away.
Mayweather said during an interview with LaTen Media before Sunday night's BET Awards that he would be facing Maidana again. mayweather vs maidana 2 live stream
"Sept. 13, back to business, Marcos Maidana-Floyd Mayweather, part II," Mayweather said. "And then in May, I'm fighting in May and I'll have a big surprise for ya'll."
However, Maidana manager Sebastian Contursi told ESPN.com on Tuesday that there was no deal yet and that he has been talking with Al Haymon -- the adviser to both Mayweather and Maidana -- about the fight. "Still in the talks. Nothing confirmed on our side," Contursi told said. "Hopefully, we'll have a decision made in the next 4-5 days."
Maidana took to Twitter, however.
Now back to those pay-per-view numbers. According to multiple industry sources, the fight generated around 850,000 buys -- not close to the 1 million-plus predicted by Mayweather and way off the 2.2 million (second all time) generated by his previous fight last September against Canelo Alvarez.
It is also the second of the three fights Mayweather has had so far on his six-fight deal with Showtime/CBS contract not to crack 1 million buys, including his first fight of the deal against Robert Guerrero in May 2013. It must be a worrisome decline for Showtime, given Mayweather's guarantee of $32 million for the fight with Maidana. He had the same guarantee against Guerrero and was guaranteed a record $41.5 million against Alvarez.
Ellerbe didn't sound worried when asked about the pay-per-view numbers, telling ESPN.com recently, "We're very pleased with the success that we had from the Maidana fight. Last I checked Floyd Mayweather went to the bank and cashed a $32 million check.
"Floyd Mayweather has set the bar so damn high with the pay-per-view success that he's personally had that he is only competing with himself. Last I checked Floyd Mayweather is the only one making the kind of money he is making. He has no peers. He has zero peers. There is no other boxer or athlete in the world generating that kind of revenue. Love him or hate him he is the money machine."
Indeed, Mayweather has been named the highest-paid athlete in the world for the past year by both ESPN The Magazine and Forbes.
Maidana likely will get the nod again for a rematch because Mayweather is out of top opponents since there is no fight with Manny Pacquiao in the offing. Pacquiao's recent pay-per-view numbers have also dropped significantly without the prospect of a Mayweather fight.
Maidana gave Mayweather a very physical fight but lost a majority decision on scores of 117-111, 116-112 and 114-114. It was arguably the toughest fight of Mayweather's career and he got hit more than he had in years.
Maidana wanted to wear a pair or gloves that had been approved by the Nevada State Athletic Commission but Mayweather objected. The gloves were considered better gloves for a puncher and Maidana is known for his power. So the sides made a deal for Maidana to change gloves the day before the fight.
Although neither side would disclose the terms of the deal -- or even admit that there was one -- sources with knowledge of the situation told ESPN.com that Mayweather agreed to pay Maidana an additional $1.5 million to change gloves. That doubled Maidana's official purse, which was $1.5 million on his Nevada contract. However, sources told ESPN.com that Maidana was guaranteed $4.2 million and wound up earning at least $5.7 million, including the payment for the gloves change.
http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/11164201/floyd-mayweather-jr-says-fight-marcos-maidana-again-sept-13
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