I tend to agree with Mayweather that the first fight while competitive was a pretty clear victory for him. I had it 8 rounds to 4 and if you were being generous to Maidana, 7 rounds to 5 wouldn’t have been outrageous.
It is my belief that Mayweather will play it a little safer this time around and not hang out on the ropes as much. He will keep better distance, so Maidana’s bull rush isn’t as effective. It is highly unlikely he is going to knock Maidana out, but he is saying that he feels stronger for this fight.
Here are the quotes via Boxing Scene.
“I think I have gotten much stronger in this training camp [for Maidana rematch]. I’m making sure that my body is stretched the right way. Every camp is different, but I feel comfortable and I’m pretty sure my opponent is ready to fight because I am. All I try to do is to stay positive and get good work in,” Mayweather said.
“I am able to make adjustments and adapt very, very easily. I’ve made adjustments before, even with my last rematch almost 12 years ago against [Jose Luis] Castillo. I’m in tip top shape and am a lot stronger this fight than when I first fought Maidana. My conditioning is also exactly where it needs to be.
“If you look back at the fight, I think it was very exciting for the first three or four rounds and out of 12 rounds I would say he won three rounds, but I dominated for nine rounds. The fans, critics and people are so used to me winning 11, 12 rounds or knocking a guy out. To have an opponent actually put up a good fight for four rounds [is something that is unusual in a fight of mine]. All throughout the fight I was boxing and being sharp and Maidana was constantly being dirty.”
The continuous mentioning of the dirty tactics is just a way to try to get into Maidana’s head. The one chance Maidana has to win is to make it in a street fight, if he tries to box he is going to lose. So, he should throw caution to the wind.