Boxing News: Legend Erik Morales Predicts Easy Win for Floyd Mayweather Over Marcos Maidana [EXCLUSIVE]
It has been a while since Floyd "Money" Mayweather has been in situation where he has had to face the same rival in back-to-back fights since he did it against Jose Luis Castillo in 2002, usually using his blinding speed and agility to dispose of his opponents.
But Saturday night that is precisely where he finds himself, as the champion faces Marcos "El Chino" Maidana at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas Saturday night after having defeated Maidana via decision 117-111, 116-112 and 114-114 back in May.
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Despite the closeness of their last bout, some feel that Maidana has to tweak his strategy, particularly work on his stamina. One of those who feels that way is a former opponent of Maidana's, Fox Deportes' newest boxing analyst Erik "El Terrible" Morales.
Morales, a Mexican boxing legend and eight-time world champion, had thrilling trilogies with Marco Antonio Barrera and Manny Pacquiao.
In one of his most memorable fights, he went the full 12 rounds with Maidana in 2011 -- the fight featuring the two billed as "Action Heroes" -- for the interim WBA Light Welterweight title. Maidana won the fight in a narrow decision, but the then-37-year-old veteran Morales stunned boxing experts by going the distance with the younger, heavily-favored Maidana, Morales winning over more fans in the process.
For the rematch between Mayweather and Maidana, Morales, sitting down with Latin Post in an exclusive interview before the fight, believes that "El Chino" needs to be able to fight strong going into the late rounds if he hopes to be the first fighter to beat Mayweather.
"Maidana is betting on a fight where he hopes to have enough gas in the tank to go 12-rounds, which is why he switched up physical trainer," said Morales to Latin Post. "He has to be smart in how he throws his punches, more efficient. It will be a difficult fight because of the type of opponent in front of him. We'll see if he has the legs to go the distance. We've seen him tire in the late rounds. He has to chase him as little as possible and that will be important to see if his legs can last the entire night. Mayweather has the capacity to keep Maidana at a distance."
Morales also believes that Maidana has to throw crisper punches if he hopes to have any chance of hurting Mayweather in the bout.
"He has to be intelligent because he telegraphs his punches," said Morales. "The problem Maidana has is that when he throws the jab or the right, he pulls his hands back and then he throws the punch. He pulls his hands up top and then he throws the punch.
"He's a fighter that throws with his body depending on his movement," he said. "That small detail of pulling back the punches, to gain more strength on it causes a delay. He has to change that so that Floyd can't see [the punch] coming. Or, within that defect, he has to throw continuously and quickly to see if he can land within that flurry."
Morales predicts that, despite being a game opponent for "Money," Maidana will not have what it takes to able to put the "1" at the end of Mayweather's record.
"I expect to see a calm Floyd, a tranquil pace, staying in front, ducking punches and counter-punching in a simple and quick fashion, with no problems, and controlling the action to win an easy decision," said Morales.
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