Marcos Maidana went and insulted boxing fans' intelligence at a Showtime media roundtable, as reported at Yahoo Sports. But, the Argentinian banger who dropped a majority decision to Mayweather last May speaks from experience when he says, "He's not as good as people think he is."
"I was able to pin him to the ropes and land punches, so he's not as difficult or as invincible as people think. He's hittable. You can land on him. I made mistakes. I was a little too anxious. He never hurt me, but he's got a respectable punch. You've got to respect him."
You sure do. Although some may argue we haven't seen Mayweather take on the toughest fights over the years, we've seen enough of him to be pretty sure how good he is. In recent years, Mayweather disarmed a powerful Canelo Alvarez, boxed the aggressive Miguel Cotto, and rendered toothless the accurate counter-punching Juan Manuel Marquez.
And, of course, he weathered an early bullrush from Maidana in their first fight to take control as the fight wore on.
To say Mayweather isn't that good is disingenuous, at best. Sure, a fighter has to build up their own confidence for a big fight, but by diminishing the quality of your opponent don't you sell short your own potential conquest?
Moving on, Maidana explained that he's working on conditioning to avoid tiring late as he admits he did in the first fight. He's also working on "distance control".
"Yes. I did [tire in the second half of the fight with Mayweather]," he admitted. "I came out strong the first six or seven rounds, and after that I had to take a break and catch my breath a little bit. I had to pace myself. I have to not get as anxious for this fight."
Does Maidana sound anxious or delusional ... or both? Or *gasp* could he be right?