Las Vegas Sun

Currently: 70° | Complete forecast |

Boxing:

Beating Manny Pacquiao is all that’s left for Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Mayweather vs. Maidana 2

Steve Marcus

WBC/WBA welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., left, of the U.S. connects on Marcos Maidana of Argentina during their title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014.

Mayweather-Maidana II Main Event

Marcos Maidana, left, of Argentina and WBC/WBA welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. of the U.S. square off during their title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014. Launch slideshow »

Mayweather-Maidana II Undercards

Boxer John Molina Jr. of the U.S. connects on Humberto Soto of Mexico during a junior welterweight bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014. Launch slideshow »

There’s one fight left for Floyd Mayweather Jr. to take. Just one opponent for the pound-for-pound boxing king to square off against: Manny Pacquiao.

It’s the fight most fans are desperate to see.

Minutes after beating Marcos Maidana on Saturday for a second time in five months in a welterweight championship fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Mayweather was immediately asked if the time was finally here to book the mega-fight against Pacquiao.

They 16,100 fans in attendance weren’t exactly pleased with Mayweather’s answer. They went from cheering for his thorough domination of Maidana, a unanimous decision victory where Mayweather showed some flaws but still won convincingly, to booing because they didn’t hear what they wanted from the undefeated champ.

“Manny Pacquiao needs to focus on the opponent in front of him,” Mayweather said during a post-fight interview in the ring. “Once he gets past that task, we’ll see what the future holds.”

Mayweather and Pacquiao have failed on multiple occasions over the past five years to get something arranged, but with the 37-year-old Mayweather coming down the home stretch of his career — he has just two fights left in a six-fight deal with Showtime — and the window to book the fight slowly closing, some feel the time is now.

But Pacquiao’s next fight is in November against Chris Algieri in Macau. A loss would derail talks of a fight against Mayweather, who presumably won’t fight against until May 2015.

“We aren’t in a rush,” Mayweather said. “We take our time. I’m pretty sure (we’ll) come up with a brilliant game plan. I’m just not sure what that game plan will be.”

Mayweather’s game plan against Maidana could also be considered brilliant.

Maidana had arguably the most success of any Mayweather opponent in his 18-year career last May, winning some of the early rounds and earning a draw on one of the judges’ scorecards. While Mayweather won by majority decision, Maidana was confident he had figured out how to become the first to beat Mayweather.

Mayweather was barely challenged in the rematch. With Maidana aggressively on the attack most of the fight, Mayweather used his quickness to avoid being hit, then landed counterpunch after counterpunch for the easy win. The scenario played out virtually every round with Mayweather connecting on an impressive 51-percent of his punches.

“The smarter fighter will have the longest career,” Mayweather said.

Mayweather won 115-112 on judge Dave Moretti’s scorecard, and 116-111 by Guido Cavalleri and John McKaie. His dominance, though, was partially overshadowed by Maidana biting Mayweather on the left hand at the end of the seventh round.

In between rounds, replays on the arena television confirmed Maidana biting Mayweather — which made Mayweather livid and caused fans to start a chorus of boos.

“I didn’t know what was happening, but my fingers were numb,” Mayweather said. “Something was wrong with my left hand. We were tangled in the ring. I didn’t know what happened, but I realized he bit me.”

After the fight, Mayweather claimed Maidana bit through the gloves.

Maidana, though, disputes the incident. “How can he say I bit him with a mouthpiece (on),” he said. “I’m not a dog.”

Fans will surely forgot about the controversy. They won’t care what happened in the ring, other than Mayweather was again the superior fighter. The attention will again return to coordinating a fight with Pacquiao.

Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions and Mayweather’s longtime confidant, was peppered by media about the chances of the mega-fight. One reporter even speculated he was working behind the scenes with Top Rank Promotions, Pacquiao’s promoters, on a deal.

Ellerbe quickly dismissed the speculation.

“Everybody wants to fight Floyd,” he said. “He represents their biggest payday. There are a number of very good fighters out there in his weight class or around his weight class.”

But those fighters are just like Maidana — not a challenge. Mayweather was a minus-700 betting favorite and the outcome was never in doubt.

Mayweather has gone back and forth when answering questions about his future after the deal ends with Showtime. One day, he says he’ll retire. The next, he’s open for anything.

But, for once in his career, Mayweather could be showing signs of slowing down. He looked visibly tired at the post-fight press conference — and that wasn’t necessarily because of Maidana.

“People think (boxing) is, you train and just go fight,” he said. “It doesn’t work like that when you are at the pinnacle. You go from city to city, state to state, and sometimes out of the country to promote an event of this magnitude.

“Being in the sport 18 years, boxing is wear and tear on your body, of course,” he continued. “It’s a grueling sport. But another fight, another victory. It’s time to move on.”

Time will tell if moving on involves Pacquiao, the one man Mayweather will be forever linked to.

Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy