Marcos Maidana retires from boxing

Marcos Maidana, who gave Floyd Mayweather two rough and tumble, competitive fights in 2014, has officially announced his retirement at the age of 33, in an announcement posted to his official Facebook page.

After a long time out of the rings and after giving it a lot of thinking since my last fight I’ve decided to hang up the gloves for good.

Probably my decision would not surprise much as I had given hints of it in the last few months. But at this time I am making it official.

Before anything else, I must say that I leave very proud and deeply thankful to boxing and everything that I have achieved. I’ve really never imagined getting this far when I put on a pair of gloves for the very first time when I was 15 in my native Margarita city. I think I was able to put the name of my country Argentina very high after winning two world titles, winning and losing against the best fighters of the world.

I had a tough career and I fulfilled many of my dreams. I am a very happy man with my family and friends by my side these days. I know many of you think that I still have things to do and battles to fight. And I respect them. That is something that I had in my mind in the last few months. But only those who really know what a real challenge is, like the ones I always had, may understand that you have to be absolutely motivated to approach them. Only through a great physical and mental effort you can mix in the ring with best of the world if winning is your goal. And I always wanted to win. Today I do not feel motivated enough, do not have the fire inside me to intend to climb those mountains again. That is why I announce my retirement.

... At this time, I start a new stage in which I will remain close to boxing, advising and unconditionally supporting "Team Maidana", aiming for new generations to reach the highest levels. I will be there for our world champion Jesús Cuellar. For new great prospects like Brian Castaño, my brother Fabián Maidana, Alan Castaño, who are already making some noise internationally. For Javier Maciel. Also I will be there for the new kids like Neri Romero and Luis Verón. And most likely I will be there for many others who will join us along the road looking for great challenges. My goal is to pass the baton over to them now.

Maidana had notably let himself get out of fighting shape since his last fight against Mayweather in September 2014, with people joking about it every time he was seen. But he was also enjoying the fruits of his labor. With those two big paydays against Mayweather, and with the way he fought the pound-for-pound king, there was perhaps a contentment to him. What more could he do in his career?

His biggest wins came against Victor Ortiz and Adrien Broner, two rising stars he upset and exposed. When he was tapped to face Ortiz in 2009, he had just lost a debatable split decision to Andriy Kotelnik in Germany, and was really unknown in the boxing world at large. Ortiz, on the other hand, was Golden Boy’s golden boy, a charismatic, affable young fighter with skills and power, destined to become a star.

Ortiz suffered a big setback losing to Maidana, who proved more than tough and powerful enough to trade bombs with Ortiz, eventually forcing Ortiz to quit and infamously say that he wasn’t sure he should "be getting beat up like that."

In 2013, he faced Adrien Broner, touted by some (mainly himself and desperate TV people) as the next Floyd Mayweather. There was pay-per-view money in Broner’s near future, or at least that was the intention. Maidana, though, had other ideas, dropping Broner twice and winning a clear decision in San Antonio. That win landed him a May 2014 fight with Floyd Mayweather, where he gave Mayweather all he could handle, necessitating a rematch, which Mayweather again won, though once more Maidana proved an effective opponent.

Maidana is still young enough to make a comeback, and history suggests that he will at some point, even if just a one-off fight in Argentina. Boxers just don’t stay retired in their early 30s. But if he is retired, it was a memorable career for Chino Maidana, and we wish him all the best either way.