Floyd Mayweather has his next opponent.
The undefeated pound-for-pound champion announced on Monday that he will fight Marcos Maidana on May 3:
On the surface, this might not be a matchup that is going to pique maximum interest.
Money May has mowed through all 45 of his opponents, and a year off did little to slow him down, as he looked especially clinical during his last two fights against Robert Guerrero and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.
The 37-year-old may be nearing the end of his career, but as he continues to establish himself as one of the greatest boxers ever, there's very little doubt he has the motivation to stay at the peak of his game.
And when he's at the peak of his game, he's unbeatable.
On the other side of the ring will be Maidana. The 30-year-old Argentine captured the WBA welterweight title with a thrilling unanimous decision victory over Adrien Broner in December, but he has fallen to both Amir Khan and Devon Alexander and figures to provide little resistance against Mayweather.
Fox Sports' Todd Fuhrman accurately summed up the lopsided nature of the upcoming fight:
But an uneven mismatch doesn't mean it won't be compelling.
Mayweather, as we know by now, is one of the greatest defensive boxers to ever put on gloves. His combination of speed, instincts and intelligence makes it virtually impossible for an opponent to get a good lick on him. Scariest of all is that he only seems to get better with age.
But El Chino features some fight-altering power.
An impressive 31 of his 35 victories have come via knockout. Last time in the ring, he swarmed the previously undefeated Broner—a great defensive fighter who has drawn comparisons to Mayweather—and punished him, knocking down the American for the first time in his career before winning unanimously.
Now, despite the comparisons, Broner is not Mayweather. Not even close. But at the very least, we know Maidana is going to come after the champion with all of the offense he has.
And he certainly isn't scared, as evidenced by this quote from the fight's press release, via BoxingInsider.com:
Maidana is going to attack with a reckless abandon. Will it work? It's unlikely, but with that outside shot that he lands one of his earthshaking punches or at least bothers Mayweather with a flurry or two, it's not difficult to find a reason to be compelled by this matchup.
CBS Sports' Gary Parrish is already set to buy the pay-per-view:
Mayweather vs. Canelo, per ESPN's Dan Rafael, set records for PPV gross ($150 million) and biggest live gate ($20 million). It was second in PPV buys (2.2 million).
This fight won't likely touch those numbers, but considering the contrast in styles of the boxers involved, it's not one you should miss, either.
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