THE MATADOR AND THE BULL

Photos by Will Hart

The entire boxing world centered tonight on the story of two men who couldn't be coming from different places or fighting with different styles. Carlos Baldomir drives a Nissan Frontier and Floyd Mayweather arrived tonight in his fire red 2006 Ferrari. His blindingly fast style rates with that of Sugar Ray Robinson and is no doubt the fastest in recent history. On the other hand, Baldomir serves hard punches and charges across the ring like a bull, forcing opponents into corners and cutting off the ring. Tonight, however, all of Baldomir's charges were met with a matador named Mayweather who flashy style and amazing radar had the crowd on their feet at the end of every round and Carlos Baldomir seeing red.

Though not for a lack of trying, Baldomir was unable to land anything that resembled an affecting punch against Mayweather throughout all 12 of the rounds that led to a unanimous decision tonight at the Mandalay Bay events center. The Argentinean fighter only managed to connect 12% of his total punches thrown, while Mayweather showered Baldomir with 41% and a landed a massive 51% of power punches.

The "pound for pound" king of boxing so completely out boxed his opponent tonight that Baldomir was reduced to a frustrated boxer caught in a game of 'keep away' with Mayweather.

"He was too fast and I couldn't catch him," Baldomir said after the fight. "When I did catch him, I felt sluggish."

Mayweather started the fight hesitantly, clearly seeking out Baldomir's strategy as he danced around him, landing sharp jabs and opening a cut on Baldomir's left eye in the first round. By the fourth round and into the fifth, two things were clear: While Mayweather was heading to a sure win barring an unlikely sudden knockout, he was not seeking a KO victory. He pummeled Baldomir at the end of round five in a blinding array and continued to punish the fighter for the duration, but none of his attacks had KO written on them. Rather, he seemed content to showcase his one-two, his superb footwork and amazing ability to bob around Baldomir's best attempts to connect a decent shot.

Mayweather summed it up after the fight himself, "I fought a perfect fight." Whether or not anyone disagrees with that, Mayweather certainly owned the ring once again and stopped yet another would be king.