by David P. Greisman

Though some might believe that there’s no way that Marcos Maidana can defeat Floyd Mayweather by decision on May 3 — that he would need to hurt Mayweather and finish him off — that’s not what Maidana believes.

“With Broner, everybody thought I had to knock him out, and I [won] by decision,” Maidana said on a media conference call on April 16, as translated by his trainer, Robert Garcia.

Indeed, Maidana topped Adrien Broner by unanimous decision this past December, a victory that essentially earned him this shot at Mayweather. On that night in San Antonio, Maidana had Broner retreating in the first round, on the canvas in the second round and once more in the eighth.

“I am preparing myself to go 12 rounds if it’s necessary,” Maidana said. “I am preparing to hurt him [Mayweather] every time I throw punches, and if the knockout comes, then great, but I am preparing myself to win after 12 rounds.”

Mayweather, of course, has never lost a fight in the pros. He is 45-0 with 26 knockouts. His first bout with lightweight titleholder Jose Luis Castillo way back in 2002 ended as a debated decision win over Mayweather. The only occasions in which a fight has ended with a scorecard not belonging to Mayweather have been in May 2007, when one of the three judges had Oscar De La Hoya the winner, aind last September, when one judge had the bout between Mayweather and Canelo Alvarez as a draw.

As for Maidana, he is 35-3 with 31 KOs. The four men Maidana beat by decision were Daniel Carriqueo back in 2005, DeMarcus Corley in 2010, Erik Morales in 2011 and Broner last year. The losses came to Andriy Kotelnik in 2009, Amir Khan in 2011, and Devon Alexander in 2012.

Pick up a copy of David’s new book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide . Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com