Floyd Mayweather Challenges Maidana To A Bet During Wild Times Square Press Conference

By Sean Crose

It was almost worth the wait. After hanging around for nearly seventy-five minutes, fans and journalists got to witness the Times Square press conference announcing September’s Floyd Mayweather-Marcos Maidana rematch get positively wild.

Photo: Mayweather Promotions Twitter

Oh, it was a fairly pedestrian affair at first. Madiana came out looking strangely like Peter Lorre with thick glasses and a white coat. Mayweather followed, slowly strolling around as he made his way to the stage, pointing at people in the crowd, shaking some hands, the very picture of a man not in a hurry Maidana even smiled pleasantly after the initial staredown.

Then Robert Garcia, Madiana’s trainer, took to the stage.

“Everybody’s asking us about the glove situation,” Garcia told the crowd, referencing the still simmering glove controversy from the first Mayweather fight. “That question, you have to ask Mayweather himself.”

Perhaps Mayweather doesn’t take kindly to being called out in public. Or perhaps he’s got it in his head to really excite fans for his rematch with Maidana. Whatever the reason, the man called Money took to the mic and then began to make things memorable.

“Yesterday,” he said, referring to the World Cup final, “when Germany beat Argentina, it’s the same thing that’s gonna happen on September thirteenth.” This was clearly a slap to the Agentinian Maidana and his fan base, who very vocally expressed their dislike for the welterweight champion.

Yet Mayweather wasn’t done.

“Who’s got a Germany jersey?” he mocked. “I need a Germany jersey.”

This caused Mayweather’s detractors in the audience to become even more vocal. “You know,” he responded, “I ain’t got nothing but time. This is the Floyd Mayweather show I ain’t got nothing but time.”

Then, once the crowd quieted down, the pound for pound king really started getting down to business. “Am I fighting a boxer,” he asked in regards to Maidana’s physical tactics, “or am I fighting an MMA fighter?”

He then took an opportunity to pay Garcia back, pointing out Garcia’s advice to Maidana to fight dirty during the first Mayweather battle. “What I can’t believe,” Mayweather said, “(is) this is one of the best trainers in the world, but he’s telling his fighter to fight dirty. If he can beat me, do it the honest way, earn it the hard way.”

Then it was Maidana’s turn to face Mayweather’s wrath. “I was champion when your trainer was champion,” he rightfully told his opponent, adding that he’s still champion while Garcia’s career as a boxer is long gone.

“Guess what?” Mayweather asked, turning his attention back to the audience. “This is easy work right here!” Few would call Maidana “easy work,” but those were the words that came from the man’s mouth.

“Now,” Mayweather continued, “let me step back so you can check my swag.” Then, as if he were engaging in another WWE event, Mayweather stepped back and began highlighting the bling he was wearing, even pointing out the dollar value of some items. “Get your cameras out so you can take a picture,” he told the media. “This is the last time y’all gonna see a champion like this.”

In truth, it seemed at that point like the whole thing couldn’t get any stranger. Yet it did. In fact, it got a lot stranger.

“However much you making for the fight,” Mayweather proceeded to tell Maidana. “I bet you I beat you!” Then, to show he was serious, Mayweather took out a pen and paper, presumably scribbled out a crude contract, and handed it over to Maidana’s camp.

“Bet It!” he screamed. “Bet the fight!” Yet Maidana wouldn’t bite. “Okay then,” Mayweather stated, “that’s what I thought.” Apparently satisfied, Mayweather then prepared to hand over the mic. “Get up here and talk about this bum,” he said, “I pulled his ho card.”

With the affair now coming to a close, Mayweather proceeded to cartoonishly strut over to Maidana’s side of the stage, then back to his own side again. The final staredown was, somewhat surprisingly, uneventful.