By Luis Sandoval
Floyd Mayweather is deep into training for his showdown with WBA Welterweight champion Marcos Maidana as they will square off May 3rd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV. From all accounts and from what BoxingScene saw last week when they paid the champ a visit, he’s looking tremendous and ready to go.
Floyd and his father Floyd Mayweather Sr reunited last year after years of being estranged as the older Mayweather is back to being the head trainer. The pairing has produced two dominant victories for Mayweather Jr who looks to try to add a third one in less than a month.
BoxingScene spoke to trainer Mayweather Sr and was asked if he felt Maidana who is a heavy underdog would pose any problems for them.
“Do we see any problems with Maidana? Like I say, everybody’s a problem. We can’t look over nobody. We have to take everybody serious. We’re not looking over Maidana. Maidana is a very hard hitter, a big puncher and like I say, you never know about that kind of thing” said Mayweather Sr.
While Floyd Sr expects a tough fight from Maidana, he’s also confident his son will come out victorious. Aside from Maidana’s power, one thing he’s shown in the ring is his resiliency as he’s been down but never out.
Still, Mayweather Sr points to one fight in particular as he hints that Mayweather Jr could possibly do the same damage to Maidana.
“I can’t tell you exactly how everything is going to go but I do know that Amir Khan put [Maidana] down. What did Amir Khan put him down with? (Body shot). Oh well. Oh well,” said Floyd with a smile.
Maidana’s power does come accompanied by his overall brute strength and size.
Maidana benefited from moving up to 147 where he appears stronger and doesn’t have to worry about struggling to shed those extra 7 pounds to make the Junior Welterweight limit.
Mayweather on the other hand should probably be fighting at Junior Welterweight as he is one of the few - if not the only - fighter who fights at his walk around weight. Making the Welterweight limit is not a problem for Floyd as he even had trouble retaining weight for his Junior Middlweight fight last September against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
Mayweather Sr believes his son’s physical strength, conditioning and overall skill have allowed him to be victorious even though he’s faced bigger opponents.
“He’s physically [strong] and he’s got that mind right there in his head. He done whooped everybody with conditioning because he had a lot of folks bigger and stronger than him. A lot of fighters are bigger and stronger than him. Canelo was one of them. Oscar De La Hoya was another one that was bigger than him. He’s won Junior Middleweight titles so all of them were bigger. Matter fact all the welterweights that he’s fought are bigger than him. Floyd is a Junior Welterweight, for real. Just to let ya’ll know that all ya’ll welterweights done got your ass kicked by a Junior Welterweight,” Mayweather Sr told BoxingScene.
Floyd will look to become a unified champion in the Welterweight division when he faces Marcos Maidana next month.
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