Mayweather vs Maidana: Periban ready for Love, aiming to get back in title hunt

Super middleweight contender Marco Antonio Periban has a chance to get into the title mix again when he faces J'Leon Love in the Showtime pay-per-view opener on the Mayweather-Maidana bill on May 3, and says that he feels he's ready for theopportunity.

"Love is a very dangerous fighter and he has a lot of technical skills to him, so basically my training is no longer focused on my strength, but basically on the tactics that I'm going to use to fight Love," Periban said on a media conference call.

Periban (20-1-1, 13 KO) is 0-1-1 in his last two bouts, but he was highly competitive with Sakio Bika in a close loss for the vacant WBC super middleweight title in June 2013, and returned three months later with a 10-round draw against Badou Jack.

The Mexican fighter says he's learned from those experiences. "From fighting Bika, I learned a lot of things about fighting with a strong fighter thats always moving forward and looking for the knockout. I learned a lot of things, how to neutralize an attack system like he has, how to prepare for a fight like that.

"The other fight, which was a draw, I learned a lot of things also, that you can't really leave it to the judges and that you have to use certain techniques at certain times during the fight so that you can take advantage of it. One of the problems that I have is getting sparring in Mexico, because of my size and my strength and I wasn't that prepared for the Jack fight and basically it showed in the ring."

The 29-year-old Periban wants to become the first Mexican fighter to hold the WBC super middleweight title after coming up just short in his first bid for the belt. A win over Love would likely go a long way toward securing another shot.

"I understand that Mr. Love is in the way of me capturing my dream of fighting for the world championship," he said. "It's very important for me to become world champion because by doing so I will be the first Mexican in the history at 168 pounds to ever hold the championship for the WBC. It's a fight that I must take the opportunity and be successful in and I can't let Mr. Love beat me because basically it derails my opportunity to become world champion and to make history for Mexico.

"I'm very focused. I want that title. I want that title for Mexico, so you can expect a very focused and determined fighter on May 3."