Mayweather vs. Maidana 2014: Dissecting Boxing Styles of Money and El Chino

Contrasting fighting styles often make for the most entertaining fights. That's exactly what we have in the Floyd "Money" Mayweather Jr. and "El Chino" Marcos Maidana rematch on Saturday night in Las Vegas. 

Both fighters clearly exhibited their preferred style in the first meeting. Maidana charged ahead like a cyclone and Mayweather looked to create space so that he could utilize his superior boxing skills.

While Maidana was able to give Mayweather more trouble than most people expected, Mayweather was the deserved winner. Maidana was busier, but Mayweather still outlanded him.

It's hard to see the validity in an argument that suggests Maidana deserved the decision. In the rematch, will we see more of the same or a different fight entirely?

Maidana Only Knows One Way to Fight

Isaac Brekken/Associated Press

El Chino is who he is. He's not the type of cerebral fighter who will change his game plan on the fly or even alter it from fight to fight.

He comes full speed ahead and attempts to wear down his opponent with pressure and hard power shots. This appears to be the best way to attack Mayweather.

Unless Money suffers a significant decline in speed, Maidana isn't going to outbox him. Long, sustained sequences of pressure are the key to success for El Chino.

In the first fight, Maidana tired toward the middle of the bout.

That's when Mayweather took over and made things look a little easier. If there's one thing Maidana could do to improve upon his performance during the first meeting, it would be to be in better condition to go hard longer.

Looking for the Counter

Eric Jamison/Associated Press

Mayweather seemingly wants to make a statement against Maidana.  It's been three years since Mayweather stopped an opponent, but he apparently wants to end that drought against Maidana.

It could happen one of two ways.

Money could wear Chino down with potshots and blows to the midsection, or he could time Maidana's mad dashes to land a perfect counter shot. 

Maidana has never been stopped in his career, though he has been down multiple times. Still, if Mayweather allows himself to sit down on a punch and properly counters Maidana, he could drop him.

It'll be possible if fatigue has already set in for the challenger. This is obviously the most risky approach for Mayweather, but it would make the biggest splash. Mayweather's manager Leonard Ellerbe thinks Floyd will look to impress. Per Luis Sandoval of Boxing Scene, Ellerbe said:

"

I think Maidana is coming into this fight with a tremendous amount of confidence. Coming off the Broner fight, [in which] he looked sensational. He’s coming into this Mayweather fight [after] he put on an outstanding performance.

And he’s coming out of there saying things like ‘Floyd can’t punch’ and Floyd was not all he thought he was going to be. So come September 13th, he’s gotta deal with Floyd. Floyd is extremely motivated to put on a spectacular performance. I think this one right here will be Floyd’s best performance to date.

"

If Mayweather decides to simply dominate Maidana with speed and defense, he probably could. The second half of the first fight proved that's a possibility. However, if he wants to create even more of a buzz for his next fight, he might look to roll the dice a little more this time around.

Follow Brian Mazique aka FranchisePlay, the sports and video game journalist on Twitter.