LAS VEGAS - Floyd Mayweather, coming off a tough fight with Argentine brawler Marcos Maidana, is ready for revenge. Mayweather, who won a majority decision over Maidana in May, will battle the South American again for the WBA welterweight title and WBC welterweight and junior middleweight crowns.
"I know that I am almost 40 but I am still going strong," the 37-year-old Mayweather said on Wednesday.
This is just the second rematch Mayweather has given since turning pro in 1996. Mayweather won a controversial unanimous decision over Jose Castillo in 2002.
The pair fought again eight months later for the WBC lightweight title and Mayweather won by another decision.
Mayweather, 46-0 with 26 knockouts, will need to get off to a better start against Maidana in tomorrow's fight [Sunday morning in SA] than he did in their first fight in order to keep his perfect record intact.
Maidana will be trying to pace himself so that he does not run out of steam.
"I don't have to make any adjustments. He does," Mayweather said. "I won. He has to make adjustments."
Maidana, 35-4 with 31 knockouts, came the closet of anyone to becoming the first fighter to beat Mayweather, landing 51% of his punches with Mayweather on the ropes.
His aggressive game plan worked for the first six rounds as he landed 221 punches on Mayweather, the most of any opponent. The only other fighter to land 200 punches on Mayweather was Castillo, who landed 203 in their first fight.
"I am very well prepared but this time around I already know him," Maidana said. "Floyd is not used to giving rematches. So I got this great opportunity."
Maidana said one of the keys for him is to be more patient and sacrifice quantity for quality. "I am going to pace myself this time. I am not going to waste punches," he said.
Vegas odds makers have listed Mayweather as an 8-1 favorite ahead of today's weigh-in.
