By Keith Idec
Floyd Mayweather Jr. stood directly in front of Marcos Maidana and fought much more than anyone anticipated during their May 3 fight in Las Vegas.
Maidana tried his best on a recent conference call to goad the undefeated five-division champion into employing that strategy again during their Sept. 13 rematch.
“When I was able to pressure him in the first fight and get him on the ropes, and make him fight, I did very, very well,” Maidana said through a translator. “Whenever he moved, that’s when I had problems with him. In this fight here, I want him to stand and fight like a man. … This fight, I’m not going to respect him. I’m going to go at him and I want him to fight, fight like a man – stop crying like a little bitch and fight.”
Boxing and moving obviously would benefit Mayweather (46-0, 26 KOs), who’s much more skilled and athletic than his raw, powerful opponent. Maidana (35-4, 31 KOs) just hopes his awkward aggression makes Mayweather trade with him enough to hurt the defending WBC welterweight champion during their 12-round Showtime Pay-Per-View main event at MGM Grand ($74.95 in HD; 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT).
“I’m preparing for anything,” said Maidana, who lost a majority decision to Mayweather in their first fight. “I hope that he stands and fights. But if he’s going to run like a little bitch, I’ll have to chase him all around. I’m prepared to do that.”
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.