Floyd Mayweather, trainers confident about Marcos Maidana rematch

Floyd Mayweather Jr. has dealt with a rematch before, and while the judges’ scoring was more narrow in his second 2002 meeting against Mexico’s Jose Luis Castillo, the bout was widely viewed as a more convincing Mayweather victory.

“I know I beat [Castillo] the first time. I out-boxed him. If you turn down the volume and don’t listen to the announcers and [just] watch the fight, you will see that I won,” Mayweather said. “They think he gave me a good fight, so I decided to give him a rematch. I clearly beat him easier the second time.”

So is that why Mayweather (46-0) so quickly agreed to a second meeting with Argentina’s
Marcos Maidana on Sept. 13 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas?

Mayweather shook the hand of Maidana trainer Robert Garcia on the post-fight news conference stage in May after enduring early drama and prevailing with a majority decision triumph by scores of 116-112, 117-111 and 114-114.

“In my opinion, I thought [Maidana] won a couple of the early rounds,” Mayweather said. “People are not used to seeing someone give Floyd Mayweather a good fight. However, the fans demanded the rematch and come Sept. 13, I’ll clear all that up. He’s talking a lot of trash, so let’s see if he can back it up.”

Mayweather, according to his trainers, is working feverishly in camp. Assistant trainer Nate Jones said Mayweather spent 45 minutes pounding the heavy bag with more than 4,000 nonstop punches Tuesday, when he was later visited by billionaire Warren Buffett at his gym.

“Floyd knows what he’s facing,” Jones said. “The way he’s training like this. I think he’s going to knock Maidana out. He nearly did late in the first fight. I saw the look from Maidana, ‘This … is not normal.’ That boy saw things he’s never seen that night, and that’s why his coach [Garcia] is doing all the talking now, not Maidana.

“Floyd’s not 46-0 for nothing. He’s different.”

Mayweather said getting roughed up by Maidana early in the bout did not deepen his respect for the brawler who has previously engaged in a fight of the year against Amir Khan, knocked out then-rising star Victor Ortiz and battered Mayweather protégé Adrien Broner.

“All I know is that in our first fight he proved he was a dirty fighter and his trainer is in that same boat,” Mayweather said.

Mayweather’s father and trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr., said to expect “a different Floyd,” on Sept. 13, adding he was thankful to have respected veteran referee Kenny Bayless assigned to the fight to lessen the “MMA and big-time wrestling” the trainer said Maidana engaged in during the first bout.

“If you let one melee happen like that, everybody’s going to do it. They’ll think it’s legal,” Mayweather Sr. said.

“This guy [Maidana] is not a scientific fighter. He’s strong and throws punches, but he has no ability, I can tell you that. He ain’t got nothing. He’s strong, comes in, [throws a vicious right hand], but he doesn’t move his head. He’s tailor-made for Floyd. Floyd will do much better than last time.”

Mayweather Promotions Chief Executive Leonard Ellerbe added that the glove issue Maidana and his camp have complained about is already settled in the contract. Maidana agreed in the contract to wear the softer gloves he wore in the first fight after originally requesting firmer Everlast gloves.

“There’s nothing to be determined, the gloves are official,” Ellerbe said.

Mayweather said after taking a rare day off from training Wednesday that he’s determined to shine as he did in dominating two 2013 bouts that earned him fighter of the year recognition.

“I always remain focused,” he said. “Nothing can affect me when it comes to doing my job.”