Maidana can give Mayweather problems, says Malignaggi

By Boxing News - 03/22/2014 - Comments

maidana755By Dan Ambrose: Paulie Malignggi sees the May 3rd fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. (45-0, 26 KO’s) and Marcos Maidana (35-3, 31 KO’s) as a potentially interesting fight due to Maidana’s big power in both hands and his high pressure offense. Malignaggi sees Maidana giving Mayweather all he can handle as long as he doesn’t fall into the same trap that Saul “Canelo” Alvarez did in his recent loss to Mayweather by getting out-boxed and controlled.

“Maidana will give it his all,” Malignaggi said to Sky Sports. “He is a very big puncher with both hands. But at the end of the day, I think Mayweather is a bit too much for Maidana. But I think Maidana can make it interesting at times if he doesn’t domesticate him like he did Canelo Alvarez.”

Maidana will do well as long as doesn’t fight a stupid fight like the red-haired Canelo did last September. Maidana needs to stay within his own game and do the things that got him to this point by putting heavy pressure on Mayweather, throwing a lot of hard punches, and making sure to cut off the ring on him. Maidana can’t get stuck in the same trap that Canelo did by trying to stay on the outside and box Mayweather. Canelo spent almost the entire fight trying to show Mayweather that he can box, and he ended up looking really silly in being clowned by Mayweather.

If Maidana can cut off the ring on Mayweather and back him against the ropes or into a corner, he’s going to have an excellent chance of landing some really big shots. Maidana can inflict a lot of damage with his punches even if he misses with most of them. He’s not going to back off and fight timidly the way that Canelo and Robert Guerrero did in their recent losses to Mayweather. Miguel Cotto created the blueprint in how to fight Mayweather by coming forward at all times and not backing off.

It’s hard to figure out why Canelo and Guerrero failed to follow that blueprint. You’ve got to put it on the trainers for failing to get those guys dialed into what works against Mayweather. Maidana knows what he needs to do, and his trainer Robert Garcia isn’t going to try and turn Maidana into something that he’s not. He’s smart enough to understand that Maidana stands no chance of beating Mayweather if he stays on the outside and does what Canelo did.



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