Tonight,
Floyd Mayweather is scheduled to face Marcos Maidana in a fight dubbed “The Moment”
but there was a conflict from Mayweather's team over the choice of gloves. They
objected to the Mexican-style puncher’s gloves custom-made for Maidana by
Everlast in the colors of the Argentine flag. According to Team Mayweather,
they simply didn't have the sufficient padding. On the other hand (pun firmly
intended), Mayweather is going with his trademark Grant gloves.
Kevin
Iole of Yahoo! Sports has been providing great coverage of this dispute (yahoo.com/blogs/maidana-s-gloves)
and up-to-the-minute updates on his Twitter feed (@KevinI) on Friday night.
While
Maidana’s custom-made pair was kiboshed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission,
the same stock model gloves (which were red) were approved. But for whatever
reason, Mayweather's side is still objecting to that pair. According to Iole,
that same model was used by Miguel Cotto when he faced Mayweather in 2012.
As the
clock turned midnight, there was still no resolution but the belief is that
this fight will go on. The bottom line is...well, the bottom line. Both
fighters, especially Mayweather, have millions on the line as does Showtime and
the host hotel, the MGM Grand. And with the commission approving the other set
of Everlast gloves, Maidana is within his rights to use them. If he holds his
ground, then the liability would be on Mayweather should he choose not to fight.
Some
believe this is a ploy to drum up interest in the fight and boost pay-per-view
sales but does anyone really think the reports of a cancelation the day before
the fight actually help the promotion
(especially when you consider there are three Game Sevens going on today in the
NBA playoffs, capped off by the Clippers-Warriors match-up in Los Angeles that
starts right in the heart of the pay-per-view telecast at 7:30 pm, PT)?
It's
inconceivable that this fight would actually be postponed - but this is boxing.
I guess anything could happen.
