Mayweather Captures 49-0 Record Staying Unbeaten Via UD Versus Berto For High Stakes Showtime PPV From MGM Grand In Vegas

Photo – Credit: Esther Lin/SHOWTIME

It was a historic evening from the MGM Grand Garden Arena inside the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino as undefeated #1 Pound for Pound great, Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather (49-0), reached another milestone is his already ‎stellar career. By tying the record set by fellow retired unbeaten champion Rocco ‘Rocky’ Marciano 60 years ago, the Grand Rapids, Michigan native accomplished what many said he couldn’t do this evening or any other one in his illustrious 19-year career. He defended his WBA and WBC world titles tonight against former 2-time champion, Andre Berto (30-4) leaving no doubt as to his status as one of the best to lace them up in the last 100 years.

The 13,395 in attendance tonight were witness to another one of ‘Money’s masterful and technically superior performances. His conditioning was just as good as it was 17 years ago when he captured his first title as well as his cat-like reflexes and ring awareness. Excitement hit the arena when Mayweather’s gloves touched the ground in the 3rd Round after he and Berto exchanged shots and the unbeaten title holder tripped over his foe’s feet. Another big burst of energy happened in the 4th Round when both men traded big right hand shots and lightning fast left hooks. But, if Berto tried to come in closing the distance on the Michigan native, Mayweather alertly wrapped him up in a quick clinch after landing a short punch on the inside. The following rounds ‘Money May’ invested into the body, ripping shots at his rival’s ribs and stomach before circling out or applying a tie up. The speed disperity was apparent more and more as the first half of the battle trickled on.

Heading into rounds 7 and 8, Andre Berto made the mistake of starting to blatantly follow Mayweather around the ring. Rather than pop a jab and gauge distance he allowed his man to control the action in the center of the squared circle or along its 4 corners. Before long Mayweather lulled his prey into a rhythm, jab-left hook clinch, lead right-inside uppercut then slip away on roller skates as Andre Berto hit air. In the championship rounds the Florida native turned up the heat pressuring Mayweather a bit more doing his best to cut off the ring but it was too little too late and for his troubles he caught a check hook or two along the way.

Once the dust had settled it was academic for Floyd Mayweather by way of a unanimous decision verdict thanks to scores of 117-111, 118-110 and 120-108‎. Andre Berto has no shame losing to the best ever in his division, his generation and that he has faced or will face.

Floyd “Money” Mayweather ‎now gets to do what not too many fighters have nor likely will: ride of into the sunset and leave on his own terms, healthy, financially stable and satisfied in what he has accomplished. He said it best regarding a come back fight next year at the new MGM Grand arena, “I make money, money doesn’t make me”.

Cheers champion, you did it your way.

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MARTINEZ AND SALIDO WAGE WAR‎ THAT ENDS IN A DRAW

It was clear that former champion Orlando Salido (42-13-2) would do one thing going into this title bout, set a new record for most punches thrown or top one already set for shots landed in this WBO junior lightweight title match-up for champion, Roman ‘Rocky’ Martinez  (29-2-2) title. Orlando ‎

Salido smothered Martinez from the get go ‎as they handled the co-main event duties for the Showtime PPV from inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena. He had one plan of attack and definitely one direction in mind: forward. At all costs Salido pressed on, taking some shots from Roman Martinez as he was willing to eat a shot or two in order to get in on the inside. ‎

Things came to a fever pitch in the 3d Round when Salido sent Martinez to the canvas about 1 minute into the round. However, Martinez returned the favor following a clean straight right hand shot that stunned his foe sending Salido stumbling backwards to the canvas with about 35 seconds left in the stanza. Following the knockdowns the action did not stop there as this new chapter in the Mexico vs. Puerto Rico rivalry did it’s best to overshadow the earlier one from tonight’s PPV opener. For the next few rounds Salido pushed, and pushed forward at  Martinez as the proud Puerto Rican slipped left and dodged right having excellent success as he sharpened his defensive wits. But the moment he planted his feet, Salido put his head down and ripped away at his mid section tearing Martinez’ body up specially in Rounds 6 and 7.

Martinez’ other successful moments of the fight came when he backed Salido up along the ropes or trapped him in the corner of the ring. The tide definitely turned in the 10th Round when the Boricua marched towards the challenger putting together some great combinations and short jabs on the inside. ‎He secured the championship rounds easily with this approach as he now controlled his man simply by taking away his momentum, disabling his arsenal with immense pressure of his own. Maybe it’s poetic justice, maybe the judges just wanted to see this classic battle all over again but in the end the official score cards read 115-113 for Martinez, 115-113 for Salido and 114-114. Both men agreed to a rematch following the post fight and post event press conference so a Part 3 to this heated rivalry is almost inevitable.

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‎JACK RETAINS WBC 168LBS CROWN VIA SPLIT VERDICT OVER GROVES

Reigning WBC super middleweight title holder, Badou The Ripper Jack (20-1-1) spoiled the Las Vegas debut of British star, George Groves (21-3) with a controversial split decision victory for Jack’s first defense of his world title. ‎

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Out of the gate ‎Jack controlled the action plus the pace and tempo of the fight with his upper body movement as well as making his man over think.

Jack feinted Groves making him hesitant on what to throw, hence pulling back then finally following up with a lazy left hand that Jack countered coming over with a perfect overhand right that landed on the side of his foe’s temple sending the Brit to the canvas late in Round 1. ‎Groves got his legs under him able to beat the count and fighting on to the 2nd Round but he appeared just a little hesitant to come in reckless against his opponent; Jack’s power was the equalizer it seemed early. For the next few rounds Groves stepped on the gas going for the big hay maker punches which got the ‘oooh’s’ and ‘aaah’s’ from the crowd but the 3 people’s opinion who mattered most were not impressed as the judges saw the Brit connect with air.

By the time the fight got to the halfway mark Badou Jack had found a home for the counter right as well as the overhand right and began landing it with authority. Groves didn’t do himself any favors continuously stepping to his left ‎side, walking into the right hand shot’s trajectory. Another mistake that the London native did was submerge himself into an awkward rhythm, he was predictable in his motions of jab, jab, straight right or jab, jab and left hook. If they fought at close quarters Groves also launched an uppercut that missed by a foot, forcing the shot against a man already out of the pocket before he threw it.

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Heading into the last 1/3 of the championship bout Jack to his credit, did not lose any kind of composure sticking to a great game plan. He circled away from his foe’s power punches was the first to land anything significant and stayed true to the over hand right that gave him success from the very beginning. He also stayed in Groves face making him fight at close range disrupting his timing as well as taking away from his offensive arsenal. ‎

In the end the judges saw it 116-111 and 115-112 for Badou Jack while one had it 114-113 for George Groves. A score that would definitely be questioned

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OQUENDO GETS MAJORITY DECISION OVER GONZALEZ ‎

The opening bout for the Mayweather vs. Berto PPV portion of the card featured the latest installment in the famous boxing rivalry between Mexico and Puerto Rico. In the red corner stood Johnathan Oquendo (26-4) representing Puerto Rico and in the blue corner, Jhonny Gonzalez (58-9) representing Mexico. Gonzalez sent a message to his foe early sending him to the canvas with about a minute left in the 1st Round off of a right hand-left hook combination. Oquendo beat the count , later landing a solid left hook of his own but did not get the same knockdown result. That would not deter him in the 2nd Round however; there he caught Gonzalez going back with a clean overhand right ‎that leveled the Mexican warrior sending him to the mat. He too beat the count and fought on but looked on unsteady legs for the remaining last minute of the 2nd Round. After trading knock downs both men took a more modest approach to the situation, the action still sizzled but it became more of a contained fire. The hard shots came amidst a more technical battle sorted out in the middle of the ring, jabs galore as well as counter punches from every angle imaginable. Just when Oquendo pulled ahead a few rounds using combinations and short uppercuts, Gonzalez would show fans his former champion pedigree banking a few rounds of his own based of off clean straights and vicious left hooks. Unfortunately, they were too far and in-between. Oquendo clearly was pulling away on the score cards with the more telling combos and punches as he also controlled the ring most of the way. ‎

In the 8th and 9th round referee Russell Mora had a cut over Oquendo looked at first then in the 9th, the one over Gonzalez. ‎It was a much needed temporary rest for both men after trading lots of leather at a very constant pace. Gonzalez fought allot more off of the back foot than he would have liked heading into the final rounds but Oquendo’s more technical approach proved to be deciding factor in giving him the edge as the fight came to a close.

One judge saw it 94-94 but the other two secured it for Johnathan Oquendo via 95-93 and 98-90.