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."

If Maidana can point to one thing about the first fight that is different from Saturday's fight -- and beneficial to him -- it's that he had only a five-week training camp for the fight in May instead of the usual full eight weeks he has spent preparing for the rematch.

The reason training camp was so short for the first fight was because Maidana stayed in Argentina longer than usual before heading to Garcia's gym in Oxnard, California, because his wife was having a baby. That was also why there was no media tour for the first fight.

With a full training camp this time around, Maidana and Garcia believe it will be a benefit and that Maidana won't fade the way he did in May.

"We had about five weeks for the first fight and even though 'Chino' came in already semi in shape, it was still not the same," Garcia said. "This time he came here nine weeks before the fight, since we started training full camp. We had a good eight weeks of training, so I think that it's going to make a big difference. Five weeks compared to eight weeks of training makes a big difference for this type of fight, and I think with everything that he's doing and learning new things, they're going to see a different fight this time.

"Marcos dominated for half the fight last time before he slowed down a little and sort of faded. He didn't quite have the energy to do what he wanted for 12 rounds. Chino gained a lot of confidence in the first fight. That's a big plus going into the rematch. He feels stronger, mentally and physically. He's ready to do what he couldn't quite do last time and that's fight his fight for 12 rounds.''

Said Maidana, "This time around I'm training to win. I know what to expect. I know Mayweather now, his style, what he brings to the table. I'm coming to win. I have more concentration, no excuses whatsoever, and adequate time."

Maidana (35-4, 31 KOs), 31, a former welterweight and junior welterweight titleholder, has never had a rematch in his 10-year professional career and believes that the first fight will be more of a benefit to him than it will be to five-division champion Mayweather (46-0, 26 KOs).

"I think it's an advantage for me. It might be a little bit of an advantage for him, but I think it benefits me more having a rematch with him," Maidana said. "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 and take advantage of them."

When Mayweather fought Castillo the first time, many thought that Castillo won the fight. It was very close and competitive. In the immediate rematch eight months later, Mayweather won another decision, but in much easier fashion.

Garcia said that is not going to be the case Saturday.

"Mayweather has only done one rematch and, obviously, everybody seen he easily outboxed Castillo. But it's a big difference, Castillo's style to Maidana's style," he said. "Maidana is going to come in with an aggressive style that nobody, not even the best boxer can get away with, and Mayweather's not going to get away with it.

"Maidana is going to pressure, and he's going to be the fighter that everybody wants to see. I think in this case the rematch benefits us because Mayweather can't do much more different things. We can, and we are, and the rematch benefits us."

Besides being in better condition because of the longer training camp, Maidana said finding the right distance is key. Sometimes in the first fight -- and in many of his fights -- he crowded Mayweather too much, which didn't allow him to get full leverage on his heavy punches.

"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. "I think I smothered a lot of my punches, I wasn't able to really catch him with good solid shots, being able to extend my punches, and that's one of the things that I'm working on.

"Because I smothered my punches I don't really think I ever hurt him, but this time around if I get him with good solid shots, work my distance control, I think I can hurt him."