By Ryan Maquiñana
Marcos Maidana almost shocked the boxing world with a near-upset of Floyd Mayweather last month, and the Argentine’s longtime adviser is hoping for an immediate return bout with the now unified welterweight champion in September.
“I have to talk to (Mayweather’s adviser) Al Haymon this week and sit and discuss what’s ahead, if Floyd’s going to keep his word and give Maidana a rematch, but we haven’t discussed that yet,” Sebastian Contursi told BoxingScene.com.
Maidana, who recently enjoyed a two-week vacation in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, has been promoted by Golden Boy but is also advised by Haymon -- a fact that has the public wondering about the fighter’s promotional status considering the exit of Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer.
“To be honest with you, our lawyers are reviewing the contract with Golden Boy, and we’ll have a report next week,” Contursi said. “I wouldn’t make any comments on that direction without having the report from my lawyers. There’s a few provisions (on the contract) that we need to go through before we get a final word next week.”
Legal issues aside, Contursi doesn’t “see any other possible opponent for Floyd.” However, Maidana’s handler believes that striking a deal might be harder the second time around -- especially regarding the choice of gloves. In May, Mayweather forced the Maidana to wear a more padded model of Everlast gloves than the MX brand that the Argentine was accustomed to wearing.
“It’s going to be a hard one,” Contursi said. “The bad thing about that is that this time, Marcos is not currently a world champion, so that makes us a little weak when it comes to negotiating, but I think Maidana is going to perform much better than he did last May with or without the Mexican gloves.”
When pressed to opine whether or not the change in gloves affected the impact of the power-punching Maidana’s blows, Contursi would not definitively answer in the affirmative or negative.
“When you’re used to wear(ing) those gloves for four years, and all of a sudden, you have to adapt or adjust to other gloves, it’s not the same, I reckon that,” Contursi said. “But at the same time, he was performing very well. Many people think he won.”
However, Contursi doesn’t fault Mayweather for making the demand.
“I wouldn’t blame him because I probably would do the same. Everybody tries to care of his fighter and try to take as much advantages as they can. I don’t blame Floyd for that.”
Contursi did take issue with the postfight banter from Mayweather’s team that framed Maidana’s rough-and-tumble style as “dirty.”
“What really bothers us as a team is that Floyd is telling that version that Maidana was dirty, and many people are just repeating that,” Contursi said. “I just laugh at it. You’re facing Floyd Mayweather, who is the king of the elbows, and you gotta do what you gotta do. He also gives you the shoulders, forearms and elbows -- it's tough.
“So if they say Marcos was dirty, then Floyd was dirty. It’s a championship fight, a unification fight. It’s a huge fight, and you gotta do what you gotta do. It really bothers us.”
Follow Ryan Maquiñana on Twitter @RMaq28 or email him at rmaquinana@gmail.com .
