Floyd “Money” Mayweather is priming himself for a rematch with Marcos “El Chino” Maidana, confident in the knowledge he has been there before.
Even though the judges’ scoring was narrower in his second 2002 meeting with Mexico’s Jose Luis Castillo, the fight was widely seen as a more convincing Mayweather win.
Mayweather, not surprisingly, said that he was convinced he won both bouts by a wide margin, although the judges did not see it that way.
After the furor of the tight verdict of the first contest, Mayweather claims he decided to give Castillo a rematch, but in reality it was because of public demand. Mayweather was not keen then, as he is now, to put his unbeaten record on the line.
Money still remains undefeated after 46 contests and although the first clash with the Argentinian bruiser in May was a tight verdict, he learned enough about Maidana to make sure when they meet on Sept. 13 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas the bout is unlikely to be as close again.
Maidana won only a couple of early rounds, Mayweather insists, and this time he will make sure there are no doubts, which is why the boastful American appears to be working even harder than usual in the gym to be in top condition.
Assistant trainer Nate Jones claimed Money pounded the heavy bag for 45 minutes with more than 4,000 nonstop punches last Tuesday, the day he was visited by billionaire Warren Buffett at his Vegas gym. Jones said the 37-year-old champ is even more aware of Maidana’s robust style now, which is why he is training so hard and believes the welterweight king will knock him out this time.
Maidana, 31, has lost only four times in 39 bouts. He has a history of tough, exciting contests, including the fight of the year against Amir Khan when he was outpointed, knocking out the prospect Victor Ortiz and sensationally battering Mayweather’s protégé Adrien Broner.
Mayweather said that Maidana is a dirty fighter and accused his trainer Robert Garcia of encouraging him to adopt that style. It looks like Maidana has little option to be rough because he cannot possibly match Mayweather’s speed and skills.
Floyd Mayweather Sr., the champ’s father and trainer, claims his son will handle Maidana better this time and is relieved that veteran referee Kenny Bayless will control things and reduce “MMA and big-time wrestling,” which he said Maidana displayed before.
He believes his son will handle Maidana much better, mainly because he does not move his head much and presents an easy target.
Maidana made such a fuss over what gloves he wanted to wear in their first fight that Mayweather paid him handsomely to wear the gloves of his choice. It will not be an issue this time because Maidana has already agreed to wear the softer Everlast Powerlock gloves from the first fight after originally requesting firmer Everlast MX type.
Mayweather said he is determined to impress as he did in dominating two bouts last year that earned him fighter of the year recognition.
“I always remain focused,” he said. “Nothing can affect me when it comes to doing my job.” Mayweather closes in on his career next year and a fight with Manny Pacquiao has again been raised.
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter, said last week that the two could fight in 2015, despite many problems in securing the $200 million clash in the past. “Both networks want this fight to happen,” said Arum. “All signs seem to point to the fight happening early next year.”
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