Mayweather vs. Maidana 2 All Access: Top Moments and Storylines from Episode 3
Episode 2 of All Access showed us the differing personalities of Floyd Mayweather and Marcos Maidana.
For Mayweather, everything is about the show. There are pot parties, beautiful women strewn across his estate and innumerable instances of for-the-camera extravagance. I, for one, highly doubt Mayweather blocks off entire traffic lanes when going for a run when the cameras aren't on.
For Mayweather, it's also about his unwavering confidence. That he's unbeatable. That his desire to keep going doesn't necessarily come from love but of piling up as much cash as he can before walking out the door. That the first fight wasn't anywhere as close as some were making it out.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
For Maidana, his goals are much more subdued and relatable. He's the family man of the two, speaking on the difficulties of leaving his family to train. He's also knowingly the underdog and talks in stock phrases—almost as if he's been handed talking points. (But we know nothing about reality television is scripted, though, right?)
In Episode 3—the last before Saturday's bout at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino—we got a glimpse of how everyone finalized his preparations. Las Vegas replaced felt on card tables and erected large billboards displaying the promotional fight poster. Mayweather again proved he's nearly as good a jump-roper and sports bettor as boxer. Maidana apparently really likes racing go-karts.
Otherwise? Let's check on a few other things that happened in Wednesday's episode.
Alex Ariza Makes Presence Known in Mayweather Camp
The opening scene introduces us to Alex Ariza, a strength and conditioning coach who was probably seen last by fans during the first fight. On the opposite corner. Working with Maidana. Ariza, who also previously worked with Manny Pacquiao, was fired by Maidana trainer Robert Garcia between the two fights.
Months later, he's in the gym raving about Mayweather, whose success is predicated on him being "self motivated," according to Ariza.
Mayweather takes Ariza's firing as yet another sign of disloyalty from the Maidana camp. Gesticulating around the gym with a crowd surrounding him, Mayweather makes a point of saying he's been with the same crew for the last 18 years.
Maidana's camp unsurprisingly takes Ariza's tactics as a sign of "betrayal." Garcia alleges that Ariza was still living in his house at the time he began working with Mayweather and joked about changing the locks. Brandon Rios, also a part of the Garcia stable, said it was "scandalous" but noted Ariza's presence might be a mind game on Mayweather's part.
Garcia and Rios also claim it shows Maidana is in Mayweather's head. Whatever the case, Maidana seems unbothered. The entire scene plays out with him sitting near-silent in a leather chair with sunglasses on; his most noteworthy comment is wondering who will be refereeing the fight.
Two Wildly Different Tactical Styles
Mayweather is seen as the best defensive fighter of his generation—perhaps the best in history on a pound-for-pound basis. There's a good reason: His biggest preparation is no preparation at all.
Mayweather claims to enter fights with a blank mindset. His opponent's strategy doesn't matter; only his preparation does. As the fight nears, Mayweather's only major change is to move toward a nocturnal training schedule—in an effort to prepare his body clock for the estimated time of the fight.
"When we get inside that ring, it's something that's totally different," Mayweather said on the Showtime broadcast. "It's not about who hits the hardest. It's about who has the will to win more."
For the first time in his career, Mayweather also granted Showtime access to a sparring session. Picking fighters who aggressively attack the head—ones specifically chosen to emulate Maidana's style—Mayweather looks in peak form as he continually blocks attacks. Mayweather claims he's never trained harder for a fight.
"I'm extremely hungry for this fight; I really want to win," Mayweather said.
Maidana, meanwhile, has many more cooks in the kitchen. Not only will he have Garcia, who says he's carefully crafting a game plan, but Maidana will also have his father in his corner for the match. Where nothing about Mayweather's plan is scripted, it seems Maidana will come into Saturday with a very clear sense of how he wants to pull off the upset.
We'll see which of the two plans winds up working.
Mayweather Spends Lots and Lots of Money
And I mean lots. Like hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of dollars in one night. He is not a poor man. And by not poor, I mean he uses $100 bills instead of quarters for coin tosses at the Money Team family barbecue.
Life is not bad when you're Floyd Mayweather.
Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
