Mayweather vs. Maidana Showtime All Access: Biggest Lessons from Episode 3

For lack of a better term, call it a bait and switch.

Showtime ended its second episode of the All Access: Mayweather vs. Maidana 2 documentary last week with footage of Alex Ariza—former strength and conditioning coach for both Maidana and would-be “Money” foil Manny Pacquiao—arriving to Mayweather’s gym for a training session.

Instantly, boxing’s cyber-universe was full of buzz, suggesting that adding Ariza in an official capacity would both be a game-changer when it came to the May/September rivalry with Maidana and a sign that battle lines were being drawn for a rumored meeting with Pacman in 2015.

Then Wednesday night arrived, and it all went pffft.

Rather than the close working relationship that was certainly implied, if not outright suggested, by the Episode 2 narration, Ariza’s role in Episode 3 was mostly that of an interested—and surely high-profile—onlooker getting his first up-close glimpse at a guy he’d only admired from a distance.

“I’m not working for them anymore,” he said. “Might as well take advantage of the chance to watch the champ train.”

Neither Mayweather nor Ariza suggested he’d become a Money Team employee, but the producers still went all-in when it came to making sure the three minutes for which Ariza was featured became a main takeaway of the episode. Words like “traitor” were used when it came time for reactions from the Maidana camp, which included Brandon Rios referring to the sudden loyalty shift as “scandalous.”

If you didn't know better, you would think you’d tuned in to Desperate Housewives with all the trumped-up intrigue and mock outrage. “He still has keys to my house,” said Maidana’s trainer, Robert Garcia, who suggested the arrival was a sign of Mayweather fear. “I guess I need to change the locks.”

For Ariza’s part, he provided little beyond on-site respect when the camera was on.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen anything like it,” he said. “It gives perspective on why he is where he is. The most important thing I’ve seen is that he’s self-motivated. He doesn’t need anyone to tell him where or when or how. He’s motivated, 100 percent.”

Pounds of Flesh

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Maidana and his team were in Oxnard, California, the day before heading to Las Vegas, and they addressed lingering questions about conditioning—Mayweather had suggested Maidana needed Ariza because he was still above 160 pounds—by claiming the fighter was on target at 155 with a week to go.

Maidana weighed in at 146.5 pounds the day before the first fight and then entered the ring the following night more than 18 pounds heavier at 165. Mayweather weighed in at 146 and fought at 148.

Team Chino also contended that Maidana had been more successful in May’s initial encounter with Mayweather than several past foes who are or were regarded among the sport’s best.

“Canelo, Cotto, Oscar, they all fought him the same,” said Eduardo Garcia, Robert’s father, who previously worked with former 154-pound champion Fernando Vargas and will share corner duties with his son on fight night. “(Maidana’s) style is poison for Mayweather.”

Exclusive Footage

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Each All Access episode across Mayweather’s previous three Showtime fights had been similar in that they never showed images of him actually sparring in the gym. In fact, a signature element in past shows had been giant men on the fighter’s security team casing the room for surreptitious camera phones.

Suddenly, though, the veil of secrecy has been lifted. Sort of.

Mayweather was indeed shown—in full headgear and padded gloves—in the ring mixing it up with an unnamed training partner, whose charge was to imitate Maidana’s roughhousing approach. Not surprisingly, the WBA/WBC champion got the better of the scenes that made it past the censors.

“The guys we used the most were guys who emulated his style,” Mayweather said. “They gave me the same look, the same style, the same wild shots. People want to see blood, sweat and tears, and this fight is going to be another action-packed fight. My defense is extremely tight for this fight. And I’m gonna go out there and do what’s best for Floyd Mayweather.”

Sharing the Spotlight?

If you didn't know any better through three episodes, you might think the guy getting into the ring with Mayweather—or at least the guy angling for top billing for the preview shows—was Robert Garcia.

The trainer was a far more vocal part of the gatherings on the pre-fight press tour this time around, mentioning that he was a champion at 130 pounds at the same time as Mayweather and suggesting the two of them could settle their Maidana-related issues by fighting each other.

He never mentioned that he lost his IBF title by seventh-round TKO to the same man (Diego Corrales) whom Mayweather knocked down five times just 15 months later, but it’s still apparent that the result on Saturday night could mean as much for his career as it would for his fighter’s.

“I want this win so bad. I need this win,” Garcia said. “We made it so far with a fighter who nobody thought would be here.”

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained from Showtime's All Access: Mayweather vs. Maidana 2, Episode 3, which aired on Sept. 10, 2014