Floyd Mayweather, coming off one the biggest scares of his undefeated boxing career, wants to send a message on Saturday when he faces Argentine brawler Marcos Maidana.
Mayweather, who won a majority decision over Maidana in May, will battle the South American again for the World Boxing Association welterweight title and World Boxing Council welterweight and junior middleweight crowns.
"I know that I am almost 40 but I am still going strong," the 37-year-old Mayweather said on Wednesday. "I am coming to make a statement."
Mayweather, 46-0 with 26 knockouts, will need to get off to a better start against Maidana than he did in their first fight in order to keep his perfect record intact.
Maidana will be trying to pace himself so that he doesn't run out of steam in the later rounds.
"I don't have to make any adjustments. He do," Mayweather said. "I won. He has to make adjustments."
Maidana, 35-4 with 31 knockouts, came the closet of anyone to becoming the first fighter to beat Mayweather, landing 51 per cent of his punches with Mayweather on the ropes.
His aggressive game plan worked for the first six rounds as he landed 221 punches on Mayweather, the most of any opponent.
"I am very well prepared but this time around I already know him," Maidana said. "Floyd is not used to giving rematches. So I got this great opportunity."
Maidana said one of the keys for him is to be more patient and sacrifice quantity for quality.
"I am going to pace myself this time. I am not going to waste punches," he said.
His longevity in the sport has been attributed to brilliant counterpunching skills and a stingy defence that doesn't allow opponents to land many clean shots.
And he said Wednesday that is just the way he likes it.
"I try not take no shots," Mayweather said. "I don't want to be known as the guy that can take a good shot. I want to be known as the guy that can dish it out."
Share
