Boxing hardman Marcos Maidana claims to have Floyd Mayweather’s tooth from their 2014 fight. WBN looks into whether this is the case.
The Argentinian hit Mayweather was a superb shot in the third round of their first battle. Maidana said the molar flew out of Mayweather’s mouth and onto the canvas.
A Maidana team member confiscated the gnasher and kept it until the end of the bout, which Mayweather won on points.
After returning home, Maidana placed the tooth into a pendant and added it to a chain. He wears it around his neck.
But is this really the case?
Well, it’s hard to tell, as World Boxing News discovered when delving deeper. All we have to go on is the word of either fighter.
Does Marcos Maidana have Floyd Mayweather’s tooth?
There’s no definitive way to confirm which one is telling the truth. The big question is, why would Marcos Maidana lie about something like that, versus would Floyd Mayweather deny somebody knocking out his tooth?
It’s down to who you believe.
Soon after Maidana’s claims surfaced, Mayweather aired his views with his side of the story.
“He hit me with that shot after the bell in the third round. It was a really good shot. It got my attention,” said Mayweather.
“But it was nothing I had never felt before. It was a really good shot that got my attention. But no, he didn’t knock my teeth out. Not at all!
“He’s a strong guy. He’s a good puncher. But no, as far as my teeth missing, absolutely not,” he added.
To this day, contrasting views remain on that first fight. Even former President Donald Trump entered the debate as the fight went live on Pay Per View.
Many thought Maidana did enough to win the initial meeting, including the 45th.
“Floyd Mayweather is being beaten up badly through ten rounds by Marcos Maidana. But announcers say it is even. Two rounds left,” witnessed Trump.
As the scorecards read 117-111, 116-112, and 114-114, Trump added: “No way! Judges say Mayweather won. An investigation should take place. Fix?”
Mayweather fight
In a 2024 interview, Robert Garcia stated Maidana would never lie about something like that.
“At that moment, we didn’t even really realize if the blow had caused Money’s tooth to fall out,” Garcia told IZQUIERDAZO. “But that right hand that he landed, which actually hurt him, was the bell that saved Mayweather.”
There’s no definitive way to tell whether it was undoubtedly Mayweather’s tooth that came flying out of his mouth. According to Garcia, it could have easily been something else when the punch landed.
“Yes, something flies. You can see that something flies, but I never saw the tooth. It’s possible, actually, but I can’t confirm that because we didn’t even realize it at the time of the fight. It could have been mucus, saliva, something from the blow that hit him, and we didn’t see. When you see the cameras, the replay, and we saw it, you can see that something similar to a tooth flew.
Maidana chain
“If somebody then finds it and brings it [to Maidana], if they gave it’s because it must have been.”
He added: “Later, from what I understood and what was said about the person who found it, he gave it to Chino. I think he made it on a little chain, and he has it hanging [around his neck].”
The debate of Mayweather vs Maidana will rage on, as with Floyd vs Jose Luis Castillo and Oscar De La Hoya. Floyd only had to look at his record to see how his record looked when the dust settled.
Regarding the tooth debate, we will never know. Denials without proof hold no foundation.
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