Floyd Mayweather's and Marcos Maidana's Latest Comments Before Weigh-in Results

Before Floyd Mayweather (46-0-0) and Marcos Maidana (35-4-0) square off Saturday night at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, the two men must go through the weigh-in on Friday.

In what should come as a shock to zero boxing fans, there has been plenty of pre-fight chatter.

Mayweather and Maidana had one of the best fights of the year when they met in May, and the mixed-decision victory for the undefeated champion only added fuel to the expectations for the eventual rematch.

With Mayweather looking to maintain his unblemished record and Maidana looking to make history by handing Money his first loss, here are the latest comments surrounding Saturday’s marquee matchup.

Mayweather’s Comments

Mayweather is one of the most outspoken personalities in sports. While many of the things he says can be taken as trash talk and part of the game, he was very serious when he made comments about retiring at this time next year.

When asked about what his future holds, Mayweather told Dan Rafael of ESPN.com how he plans on ending his career and how it will not affect his focus on Maidana:

"

I only got two more fights left (after Saturday) and after the next two fights I just want to build the Mayweather Promotions brand…As of right now, my focus is on Maidana. I can't focus on the other two fights after that. I have to focus on Maidana. After that we can't say who's the next two are going to be but I'm pretty sure the next two will be exciting fights.

"

For Mayweather fans, this should be a cause for major concern. Mayweather was hit far more often than he had ever been in the past, and Maidana’s power actually looked to be having an effect on the champion.

If Money isn’t 100 percent focused on Maidana (which will be hard to do when he’s already talking retirement and his final two fights), the Argentine challenger will have the ability to stun the champion and hand him his first loss.

As much as these distractions would rattle most fighters, this is Mayweather we’re talking about.

Mayweather is a one-man promotional machine and has become accustomed to the distractions outside the ring. While most fighters thinking about the end of their career may overlook the task at hand, the people around Money understand how to help him stay focused.

Maidana’s Comments

There is no question that Mayweather has endured distractions during the build to Saturday’s fight, but Maidana and his camp have been focused on keeping his routine normal and treating this like a normal championship match.

In actuality, this is the biggest fight of Maidana’s life.

After shocking the world by actually being the aggressor for the early stages of the fight, Maidana must maintain that same aggressiveness but learn from the mistakes he made that resulted in the loss.

When asked about what went wrong in the first fight, Maidana told Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times, “I was too anxious, just coming forward. I know by relaxing, I can land more. … I had him against the ropes, but I was too up on his body. I'm working more on leverage, spacing.”

Maidana’s trainer, Robert Garcia, told Pugmire about the improvements his fighter has made and how much he improves every day:

"

I knew what we could do with him. Taking a one-dimensional fighter and bringing him to the point he was capable of beating the top fighter in the world. ... [But] I added more jabs, footwork, [taught him] to go side by side.

[Before] he'd just go for the kill. Now he's able to counter, move his head. ... He still comes every day on time. Listens. Follows every instruction.

"

The key for Maidana will be stamina. He was strong enough to do damage to Mayweather, but the champion’s defense is hard to break through. With so much energy spent in the early rounds finding holes and capitalizing on them, Maidana wasn’t as effective in the latter stages of the fight.

A focus on more cardio and slowing the pace down should be enough to allow him to win more rounds over the course of a 12-round fight. It will be next-to-impossible to win a decision against Mayweather in Las Vegas, but Maidana could do it if he attacks consistently over the course of the entire fight.

If Maidana starts fast and breaks through Mayweather’s defense, this will be one of the toughest fights of Mayweather’s career.

*Stats via BoxRec.com.

Follow @Donald_Wood