By Miguel Rivera
Under the guidance of trainer Robert Garcia, WBA welterweight champion Marcos Maidana believes he is a vastly improved fighter when compared to the version of Maidana who was dominated by Devon Alexander over ten welterweight rounds. He then hooked up with Garcia and scored four solid wins - including a dominant decision over previously undefeated Adrien Broner.
"What happened is that I spent a lot of time in the gym, and I did learn. I improved with my defense, now I throw the jab more, I get hit less and I'm thinking a lot more [in the ring]. Garcia, of course, taught me many things, but I'm not going to the gym just to meet up with him, I go there to work and learn," Maidana told Carlos Irusta.
On May 3rd, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Maidana will face his biggest challenge in the form of undefeated WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr.
"[With Broner], I went right after him and hit him because I like a war, and I had to show him that I came to win. I imposed my will on him to get respect from the beginning," Maidana said.
"Right now I set aside time to watch some videos [of Mayweather], when he fought Hatton, Cotto, Canelo and so on. In Oxnard we will study more with Garcia and [Alex] Ariza. He's very difficult, but at some point he is going to be on the ropes and I'll dig to the body and then let's see what happens ... He is very fast and throws a lot of accurate punches, and that greatly influences the judges," Maidana said.
