Despite distractions, Mayweather focused on Maidana

When it comes to distractions, Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s out-of-the-ring adversaries have had about as much success getting to him as the 46 fighters who have tried to beat him inside the ring.

Even an impending stint in jail didn’t derail Mayweather from remaining undefeated. So someone telling him he can’t read isn’t likely to faze him as he looks to extend his legacy tonight against Marcos Maidana at the MGM Grand Garden, a rematch of Mayweather’s 12-round majority decision May 3.

“I never worry about those things,” Mayweather said. “I just concentrate on my job.”

Even Maidana is convinced that outside influences can’t throw Mayweather off his game.

“He’s a great fighter; he doesn’t care about those things,” Maidana said. “He has people to worry about that for him. He’ll be focused for this fight.”

Controversy and Mayweather are far from being strangers. In 2011, before facing Victor Ortiz, Mayweather and his father got into a war of words that HBO captured on its reality show “24/7.”

In 2012, before he faced Miguel Cotto, Mayweather was dealing with his pending incarceration in the Clark County Detention Center after he pleaded to a lesser count of domestic battery after being accused of attacking his then-girlfriend, Josie Harris. Mayweather beat Cotto that May, then a month later went to jail for two months.

Now, as he prepares to face Maidana a second time, for the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association welterweight titles, Mayweather again has been confronted with issues outside the ring.

Last week, his former fiancee, Shantel Jackson, sued him, claiming Mayweather abused her physically and mentally during their relationship. She is seeking unspecified damages.

Last month, Mayweather’s former close friend, rapper 50 Cent, accused him of being illiterate after challenging him to read from a page of a Harry Potter book, saying he would give Mayweather $750,000 to donate to charity if he could do it without messing up.

On Tuesday, Mayweather found himself in controversy again after he spoke out about the Ray Rice situation and said the NFL shouldn’t have changed the punishment from a two-game suspension to an indefinite suspension. On Wednesday, Mayweather backtracked from his comments and apologized.

“I’m not perfect,” Mayweather said. “I’m human. If I offended anyone, I apologize.”

But Mayweather said he won’t let anything deter him from performing in the ring at a high level.

“Nothing can steer me the wrong way,” he said. “I don’t focus on clown stuff. Like I said before, that’s for the circus. I got to where I got to be being smart, making smart moves and doing what’s best for Floyd Mayweather.”

Rarely has Mayweather had to apologize for his performance in the ring. And while he’s 46-0 with 26 knockouts entering tonight’s rematch on Showtime Pay Per View, he was far from perfect on May 3.

That night, he found himself engaging his opponent more than he normally does and was willing to lay on the ropes and let Maidana beat on him. He also suffered a head butt that opened up a nasty gash over his right eye in the fourth round and left him temporarily blinded.

He rallied after cornerman Rafael Garcia stopped the bleeding and won the majority decision. The scores were 117-111, 116-112 and 114-114.

It’s hard to imagine Mayweather employing the same tactics tonight against Maidana (35-4, 31 KOs). In fact, if Mayweather has his way, the judges won’t decide the outcome.

“I want to knock him out,” Mayweather said. “No one has done that to Maidana in 39 fights. I want to make a statement, not to the world but for myself. It’s self-preservation. I want to do it for me.”

This is only the second time Mayweather has fought the same man twice. In 2002, he beat Jose Luis Castillo twice in an eight-month span.

Tonight, he will make $32 million for fighting Maidana, who will get $3 million. Both made the 147-pound limit at Friday’s weigh-in at the Grand Garden — Mayweather weighed 146½ and Maidana 146.

Mayweather, who remains a minus-750 betting favorite (Maidana is plus-500), said he expects to be orally attacked for as long as he fights. But he doesn’t seem to care.

“I don’t read that stuff,” he said. “I can’t read, remember? Not unless I got those 70 teleprompters lined up.”

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