Floyd Mayweather Jr., slated to fight Marcos Maidana in a few months, said that he’s not at his best yet, despite being 37.
“I’m a strong critic of myself. Even with the Canelo fight and fight before that I wasn’t happy with my performance,” he said recently, according to USA Today.
“I’ve been in the sport a long time, but I haven’t been able to bring my A game totally out. I’ve beaten fighters with my C game and D game, but I haven’t been able to beat anybody with my A game,” he continued.
Mayweather said that he’ll fight three more times after the May 3 fight with Maidana, adding that he just started his training camp for that fight.
“This was my first week out, and we had a tremendous camp,” he told reporters. “I believe in dedicating myself to my craft. This is my 18th year in the sport. I truly believe in taking one fight at a time.”
Mayweather didn’t say who he will fight next, per usual.
“I don’t know who my three next opponents will be. A lot of people ask me that. You want to fight me? Earn it,” he said.
Regarding his bout with Maidana, Mayweather said he’s not underestimating him. Maidana has 34 wins and 31 knockouts.
Maidana is young, strong and a tough competitor,“ he said. ”You can never take any fighter for granted, because anything can happen." He added that he’s “tailor-made to make a war,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
Nate Jones, a friend and assistant trainer of Mayweather, said it’s unlikely that Maidana can do much do Mayweather.
“He looks so good,” he told the Times. “It’s going to be a boxing exhibition. [Maidana] will never find him. And Floyd may get him [by KO].”
The pound-for-pound No. 1 fighter also explained his reasoning for choosing Maidana over other boxers, including Amir Khan.
“Look at [Maidana’s] last four fights and look at Khan’s last four fights,” which include two losses, Mayweather said. “I had to go with the best choice.
“He’s made a big impact on the sport of boxing in his last fight. He hits with both hands. He looked tremendous [against Broner]. We weren’t impressed with that [regarding Khan].”
