Marcos Maidana and Robert Garcia have been throwing barbs into Floyd Mayweather Jr. over the past several weeks, but both of them admitted that the reigning pound-for-pound king is not showing any signs of slowing down.
Maidana, who will face Mayweather in a rematch on September 13 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, put the unbeaten champion into a lot of trouble in their first fight in May.
But while most analysts are saying that Mayweather looked slow and old in their first fight, Maidana said that age has nothing to do about how close their first fight turned out.
"I don't think age has anything to do with it. I don't think it does because in the first fight, yeah, he could've fought with me a little bit, but then he started boxing and moving at times," Maidana said via BoxingScene. "So I don't think age has anything to do with it. He's a good athlete. He's in shape."
The 31-year-old Argentine pointed out that he managed to execute his game plan in the early rounds of the bout because Mayweather stood toe-to-toe against him.
And to have another exciting showdown in their second fight, Maidana, who is aiming to reclaim the WBA welterweight title from the Grand Rapids native, is hoping that Mayweather will fight "like a man" again.
"I think that it was his decision to stand and fight with me. This second fight I hope he decides to stand and fight with me, to fight like a man. I hope he doesn't start running or trying to move away," Maidana said.
Garcia echoed his fighter's statement, saying that Mayweather looked solid for a 38-year-old during the first bout, while also expressing hope that Mayweather will not run a lot on the September 13 fight.
"I agree with what Chino just said. Mayweather is going to be 38, but he's taken care of his body. He's an athlete. He's a natural, so I don't think age is a factor in this fight," Garcia said. "But like Chino said, we just hope that he wants to please the crowd like he said he tried to do it the first fight, well hopefully this time he does it even better."
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