Maidana: ‘I’m not changing for Mayweather’

As far as Marcos Maidana is concerned, he beat Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 3 at the MGM Grand Garden. So why make changes?

Sure, there will be some tweaks for Saturday’s rematch at the MGM. But Maidana doesn’t see a need for drastic alterations, even though he lost a 12-round majority decision in the first meeting.

“I felt I surprised Mayweather,” Maidana said Tuesday after arriving at the MGM for the welterweight title fight. “I could see it in his face.

“When we first fought, I thought I wasn’t going to be able to see him. But I found him in the ring many times. Looking back, I think I can improve my punching accuracy. But my attack overall was very good and effective.”

Maidana (35-4, 31 knockouts) usually doesn’t like to talk much. The Argentina native lives a low-key lifestyle. But in an attempt to boost pay-per-view sales (their first meeting sold fewer than 1 million buys), both fighters have been busy promoting the rematch, which will be televised on Showtime Pay Per View.

His training camp also was significantly longer this time, nine weeks compared with the five weeks he spent preparing for the first fight.

“I think it’s going to make a big difference,” said Maidana’s trainer, Robert Garcia. “I think with everything that he’s doing and learning new things, they’re going to see a different fight this time.”

Maidana said: “This time, I’m training to win. I know what to expect. I know Mayweather now. I know his style, what he brings to the table. I have more concentration, more time to prepare. I have no excuses whatsoever.”

Some boxing observers think Maidana didn’t deserve a rematch. The two judges who scored the fight in Mayweather’s favor did so by relatively wide margins — Burt Clements had it 117-111 and Dave Moretti scored it 116-112. Michael Pernick scored it 114-114.

But Maidana thinks he deserves another shot at Mayweather (46-0, 26 KOs).

“It was a close fight,” he said. “That’s why I think I got the rematch. But he probably wants to prove a point, he wants to demonstrate that he can beat me outright.

“It doesn’t really matter. What matters is that the rematch is happening, and I’m very happy for that.”

Maidana said he forced Mayweather to stand in and exchange punches with him and intends to do the same thing Saturday.

“I have to keep pressuring him,” Maidana said. “When I was able to pressure him in the first fight and get him on the ropes and fight with him, I did very, very well. Whenever he moved, that’s when I had problems with him. But this fight, I want him to stand and fight like a man.”

Maidana shrugs at the claims by Mayweather and his father, Floyd Sr., that he’s a dirty fighter.

“It doesn’t bother me,” he said. “There’s things he does as well in there, so it’s time for him to stop crying and just fight.”

Garcia said: “We didn’t have any points taken away. No one was disqualified. (Referee) Tony Weeks did a great job. He let Chino fight, and he let Mayweather fight, too. Mayweather does things, too, that you can say are dirty. But that’s how he fights, and we didn’t complain.”

Maidana has sparred with some good fighters to prepare for the rematch. He’s had Mikey Garcia, Steve Forbes and Thomas Dulome in his camp, and he said they have prepared him better for the rematch.

He also won’t come into the ring weighing 165 pounds, as he did in the first meeting. And he won’t have the distraction of the gloves that was created before the first fight.

“I’m going to be quicker for this fight, and with the gloves I’m wearing, whenever I land a punch, I’m going to hurt him,” Maidana said. “I’m sure he’s going to have a different game plan. But I’m not going to change. I’m going to come and put the pressure on, and I hope he doesn’t start running like a little (expletive) all over the ring.”

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.