LAS VEGAS ? When you ask Marcos Maidana?s trainer what their plan is tonight against Floyd Mayweather Jr., Robert Garcia?s lip curls into an evil smile.
?We?re not going in there to counterpunch,? he says, a Cheshire cat smile walking across his face. No need for a follow-up question.
This is the second straight fight between the two of them, a result of the closeness of their first battle in May. Eventually, Mayweather emerged with a majority decision that night and seemed to figure out around the fight?s midpoint how to avoid the assaults from Maidana that shockingly cut his eye and had his lip bleeding and chest heaving.
Many expect this fight to be a continuation of that, a case of the first round actually being Round 13 of what preceded it. There is logic behind that, especially if one recalls how easily Mayweather beat Jose Luis Castillo in the only other rematch of his career 12 years ago. Yet there is something different at play here.
Mayweather was 25 then and without a care in the world. This past week he?s looked every one of his 37 years and cares he has a plenty. One of his close associates went so far as to ask this week if he was all right. Mayweather insisted he was fine and may be, but what of Maidana?
It is difficult to believe he can make material changes in strategy because he is limited in terms of agility and technical skill. Although a powerful puncher and the owner of a resilient chin, Maidana is not the fastest guy, so he must do what he did the first fight, which is crowd Mayweather and hit him any place he can often as possible to keep him off balance and feeling under duress.
To do so, he must work hard every round. That takes a toll, especially when being hit in the face, which Maidana will be. He admits he faded in the late rounds of the first fight but attributes that to having only a five-week training camp because of the birth of his child and says the presence of a full, nine-week camp this time is the difference needed to close the gap on Mayweather. We will see about that tonight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, but what is significant is that Maidana believes it.
?This time around I?m training to win,? Maidana (35-4, 31 KOs) said. ?I know what to expect. I know Mayweather now, his style, what he brings to the table. I think (a rematch) is an advantage for me. It might be a little bit of an advantage for him, but I think it benefits me more. I?m able to correct the mistakes I made in the first fight and take advantage of his mistakes. Even though he makes very few mistakes I already know what they are, and I think I can exploit that.?
Others have said that, but Mayweather (46-0, 26 KOs) has thus far proven them wrong. Tonight he is putting both his WBC/WBA welterweight championships and the WBC junior middleweight title at risk because he believes Maidana is in the same boat. Tonight both will be in the hurt business, something Maidana considers his best attribute. He brings the pain and willingly absorbs it for the opportunity to do so. What he has to prove now is that he can bring it more effectively for a full, 12-round shift.
?The first fight I think that my attack, the pressure, was very good, but I didn?t do well with my distance control,? Maidana said. ?Because I smothered a lot of my punches I wasn?t able to really catch him with good solid shots. That?s one of the things I?ve been working on: being able to extend my punches. . . . I noticed that being aggressive and attacking him is what makes him uncomfortable. I wasted too many punches last fight.
?The way to counter his defensive moves with the shoulder (roll) and the arms and all that is to hit him there. I?m going to hit him in the shoulder. I?m going to hit him in the arms. Come eighth, ninth round, he?s going to be so tired from all the punches he?s not going to be able to defend himself anymore. . . . This fight, I want him to stand and fight like a man.?
Maidana landed more punches (221) than any opponent in 37 previous Mayweather fights tracked by CompuBox and generally treated him with rough disdain. If he can do that again, but with a bit more willfulness, he could push Mayweather to the edge. But win or lose, one thing is sure: He can only do that one way.
He can win only by being first many more times than Floyd Mayweather is.
