Maidana looks to build on first fight

— -- LAS VEGAS -- On May 3, former two-division world titleholder Marcos Maidana came as close to becoming the first man to defeat pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. as anyone has in more than a decade, since he escaped with a decision win to claim the lightweight championship against Jose Luis Castillo in their first meeting in 2002.

Maidana, the Argentine slugger, swung for the fences with hard, looping right hands and did his share of damage against Mayweather, one of the great defensive fighters in boxing history, who was having a bad night on defense. For six rounds of their welterweight unification fight, Maidana looked like he might do the unthinkable: beat the best fighter in the world. But Mayweather adjusted, found his distance, shored up his defense and outboxed a tiring Maidana during the second half of the fight to win a majority decision on scores of 117-111, 116-112 and 114-114.

Now, four months later, with Mayweather having agreed to the second rematch of his career, Maidana has the opportunity to see if he can be the one to make the adjustments and close the deal this time around when they meet for Mayweather's welterweight and junior middleweight titles on Saturday (Showtime PPV, 8 p.m. ET) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

"I just know that I have to win. I'm focused on winning," Maidana said through a translator at Wednesday's final news conference. "I am going to take out any doubts in my mind about the first fight. I've adjusted now and I think I'll be ready. I noticed that being aggressive and attacking him is what makes him uncomfortable.

"I think I did get tired in the first fight. I have to pace myself a little better and this time around I will be better. If the knockout comes, great, but I'm ready to go the distance, as well. I'm ready to make history."

Said Robert Garcia, Maidana's trainer, "All games aside, we're ready for this fight. We've prepared like never before. We know it's not an easy fight but it's not impossible, either."

Mayweather said too much was made of his difficult start and that, in the end, he felt that he won nine of the 12 rounds, but because nobody is used to seeing him have any difficulties, people thought the fight was closer and more competitive than it really was.

"The first few rounds were exciting last time and then I turned it around in the second half," the 37-year-old Mayweather said. "I expect to throw more combinations this time. I can't say if the rematch will be easier. I won the first fight, [so] it's up to him to change. The champ can make adjustments and I can be especially smart about it. Nobody can solve the May-Vinci code.

"I always find a way. Whether I am 26 or 37, I still find the way to win. I guess when you win all 12 rounds, or 10-plus rounds so many times, fans and the media get spoiled. The bar is set so high."