Floyd Mayweather Jr. said that Marcos Maidana fought dirty during their first showdown, but the Argentine challenger played down Mayweather's accusation against him.

In a recent interview, Maidana, who will face Mayweather in a rematch on Sept. 13 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, laughed off the reigning pound-for-pound king's assessment about their first fight.

Mayweather, who will put his unblemished 46-0 record on the line again, recently said that he was hurt during their first fight on May 3, but the damages were caused by Maidana's dirty tactics, not by his punches.

"Was I ever hurt? Sure, the shots to the back of the head hurt," Mayweather said. "Whenever you're in a heated battle you are going to be sore. It comes with the territory. Is Maidana a better fighter than Canelo? No. Cotto? No. He's just a dirtier fighter. I didn't get a deep gash from a punch; I got it from a head butt."

Maidana did not dispute Mayweather's statement. Instead, the former World Boxing Association welterweight champion said that Mayweather has no right to accuse him of being dirty because the unbeaten champion did not fight cleanly during the first bout.

"Maybe he's right. Maybe I am dirty. It might be a tactic [to tell everyone that I'm dirty] for the [potential] referee [to get influenced during our rematch]. But if I'm dirty, then he's also dirty," Maidana said.

The Buenos Aires, Argentina, native pointed out that Mayweather used his elbows several times in creating space when he was against the ropes, adding that he was once hit by an elbow on his throat.

"You know what, when he fights he uses the elbows. He does that with a lot of opponents. But they don't reciprocate it. I did it. In this fight I did it and gave it back to him," Maidana said. "It's a defensive tactic. He puts the elbow in the throat, it's not fair."

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