How Mayweather-Maidana II should unfold Saturday night

LAS VEGAS – The question was innocent, harmless, but Floyd Mayweather Sr. reacted as if his manhood had been challenged.

"C'mon, man," he said in that slow, high-pitched tone he uses when he's exasperated. "Get out of here with that."

He sort of laughed. It was hard to tell if he was angry, or amused that he'd been asked his prediction for his son's bout Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden against Marcos Maidana.

Mayweather Jr. will risk his WBC welterweight and super welterweight titles and, most importantly, his perfect 46-0 record, in a rematch against the man who gave him one of the hardest fights of his career.

The fight is on pay-per-view at the hefty price of $74.95 for high definition. It hasn't been a great time to sell a bout. A few weeks ago, hip-hop artist Curtis Jackson, whose stage name is 50 Cent, questioned Mayweather Jr.'s ability to read. Last week, Mayweather Jr.’s former fiancée, Shantel Jackson, sued him, alleging, among other things, assault, battery and defamation.

This week, there was controversy of his own making when he was asked about ex-Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice assaulting his then-fiancée. Mayweather said worse things happen every day in people's homes.

It was a cold, callous response and showed no concern for the victim. He later apologized after the uproar, but his apology wasn't good enough for ESPN columnist Sarah Spain. She suggested consumers refrain from ever buying another Mayweather bout.

Into this marketing nightmare walked Senior, who simply was asked for his prediction.

This would have been the time to sell the fight a bit, to build the hype. Maidana, he could have said, concerns him. He could have pointed out how hard Maidana hits, and how Maidana had done better against his son than anyone since Jose Luis Castillo in 2002.

That, though, isn't Floyd Mayweather Sr.

"Easy work for Floyd," Mayweather Sr. said. "Easy work. Floyd could stop him, but if it goes the distance, he ain't going to do a thing with Floyd. Floyd is what we call a technician. This guy is no problem."

He's probably right. The first fight was a surprisingly close majority decision that favored Mayweather. Mayweather adjusted after a good start by Maidana, which included a very rough approach.

Maidana clearly wanted to rough Mayweather up and try to make him feel every one of his 37 years. In between rounds of the first fight, a Showtime microphone caught Maidana trainer Robert Garcia telling him, "Fight dirty, Chino!"

Maidana not only threw punches at Mayweather, he used his head, his forearm, his chest and his knee to make contact with Mayweather.

"That ain't boxing," Mayweather Sr. said. "That's MMA."

For one of the rare times in his career, Mayweather was cut during the fight. He fought the fourth round largely unable to see because blood was streaming into his eye.

But no matter what one might say about Mayweather – and there have been plenty of bad things said about him this week – the man is a genius inside of a boxing ring.

His work in surviving the fourth round against one of the hardest punchers in his division while not being able to see was pure mastery.

It was reminiscent of Muhammad Ali's magical performance in the fifth round of his first fight against Sonny Liston. Then known as Cassius Clay, something got into Ali's eyes during the fourth round. When he came to the corner, his eyes were burning and he said he couldn't see.

He asked his trainer, Angelo Dundee, to cut the gloves off his hands. Dundee refused, and told Ali to run in the fifth. With his eyes burning and his vision impaired, Ali used his athleticism to float out of danger until whatever had gotten into his eye had gone away.

Mayweather couldn't see in the fourth against a motivated and aggressive Maidana, but he used his experience and guile to survive the round and give cutman Rafael Garcia the opportunity to close the wound.

"How many guys can do that, fight a full round against a puncher like Maidana while not able to see?" Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe said. "Floyd Mayweather is able to do things other guys just can't do. We're seeing something here that we may never see again.

"I don't think a lot of people really appreciate what they're seeing. I mean, this is true greatness."

Mayweather Jr. is one of the great fighters of all-time, though he still has his legion of critics, even when it comes to boxing.

Since 2003, he's fought 17 times and 11 of those bouts have gone to a decision. In those 11 bouts, at least one judge gave him nine of the 12 rounds in 10 of them.

He's often been criticized for dodging elite opposition, but he's already had nine wins over men who either are in or have a shot at being inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. One would have to go back to his 2005 match with Henry Bruseles for the last time he faced an opponent who was not a world champion.

Since stopping Bruseles, he's gone 13-0 with four knockouts against men who have been world champions.

Oscar De La Hoya won recognized world titles at six weights (130, 135, 140, 147, 154 and 160 pounds). Miguel Cotto (140, 147, 154 and 160), Juan Manuel Marquez (126, 130, 135, 140) and Robert Guerrero (126, 130, 135 and 147) have won belts in four divisions.

Shane Mosley (135, 147 and 154), Arturo Gatti (130 and 140), Zab Judah (140 and 147), Ricky Hatton (140 and 147) and Maidana (140 and 147) were champions in multiple weight classes. Canelo Alvarez (154), Sharmba Mitchell (140), Carlos Baldomir (147) and Victor Ortiz (147) were also champions.

Mayweather is 2-0 against men already in the International Boxing Hall of Fame, defeating Gatti in 2006 and De La Hoya in 2007. He routed Cotto in 2012 and Marquez in 2009, and both men are virtually certain to be inducted when their careers end.

Several other Mayweather victims – Mosley, Alvarez, Diego Corrales, Hatton and Genaro Hernandez – have a chance of making the Hall of Fame.

Mayweather is roughly an 8-1 favorite to get past Maidana on Saturday in the rematch. As his father said, he'll have few problems if keeps the fight in the center of the ring, where his extraordinary ability to see punches coming figures to make it a frustrating experience for Maidana.

This week, the talk was of domestic violence as much as it was about in-ring violence, and many fans and media questioned Mayweather’s character and morals.

There doesn't seem to be a great buzz in town about the fight, as there was prior to his matches against the likes of Alvarez, Cotto and De La Hoya, likely because of all the controversies.

The pay-per-view could come in well under a million, a failure for a guy who has gotten used to the big royalty checks that arrive following massive sales.

So it hasn't been Mayweather's best week, but rest assured of one thing:

That will change when the bell rings on Saturday.

He's never more at home, more at peace, more in his element, than he is when he's in the center of a ring. Those who think the week's controversy will finally catch up to him simply don't know him.

Nothing ever distracts him.

He'll prove that Saturday when he gets his second chance with Maidana.