By Carlos Arias

LAS VEGAS --- Marcos Maidana is riding a four-fight winning streak heading into the biggest fight of his life against Floyd Mayweather on Saturday night at the MGM Grand on Showtime PPV, but two short years ago he was on the verge of hanging up the gloves at the age of 29.

He had just suffered a one-sided loss to Devon Alexander in 2012. It was his second loss in four fights.

"After that loss to Devon Alexander, I had to move up to welterweight and I just felt that wasn't my division to fight," Maidana said. "So I just didn't want to do it anymore."

That's when his manager put him in contact with trainer Robert Garcia.

"I was actually training Brandon Rios when I got the call," Garcia said. "He told me that Chino was on the verge of not wanting to fight anymore. They asked for another opportunity. They said, 'I have the perfect trainer for you.' Chino had no idea who I was, but he decided to come and take a chance. That was the beginning."

That's when the winning streak started that included the Adrien Broner victory that landed him the shot at Mayweather.

Contact Carlos Arias on Twitter @PunchyMcGee.