Maidana: I Think I Have a Chance To KO Mayweather

By Carlos Arias

LAS VEGAS --- Marcos Maidana's aggressiveness from the opening bell was key to his victory over Adrien Broner. The big question is can he duplicate that against Floyd Mayweather on Saturday night at the MGM Grand on Showtime PPV?

"That's my style," Maidana said. "That's what I do in all my fights. I come to be aggressive for the fight. Mayweather could hit me and might hurt me, but I'm still going to go to the end. When I land on him, he's going to feel it."

Most ringside observers believe Maidana earned the shot at Mayweather because of his excellent performance against Broner, but he's still going to be a big underdog.

"The fact that I won my last four fights and did what I did with Broner is what gave me this fight with Mayweather. Yeah, we know most of the people don't think I have a chance. They have their opinion. That's their opinion. Whatever, I'm here to win."

Maidana started working with trainer Robert Garcia after his 2012 decision loss to Devon Alexander. Maidana has put together a four-fight winning streak, including the victory over Broner in December, with Garcia in his corner.

"He corrected a lot of my punches," Maidana said. "We're doing very well. Every fight the results are showing that we're better than the previous fight. This fight, I have to demonstrate what I've learned and what I have. This is my opportunity."

Many have tried and failed to land punches consistently on Mayweather. What will Maidana do differently?

"It's truly very, very difficult to land a punch against Floyd, but when I land and hurt him I'm going to take advantage of it. I'm going to go out and finish him.

"I think I have a chance to knock him out. I hit hard enough to knock him out. Mayweather doesn't throw many punches. He throws three punches, very accurate ones, but I'm going to throw punches the whole fight. I'm going to throw punches every minute of the fight."

Contact Carlos Arias on Twitter @PunchyMcGee.