Marcos Maidana advised to ‘play dirty’ versus Floyd Mayweather Jr.

May

The All-Access: Mayweather vs. Maidana Epilogue episode on Showtime on Saturday revealed that trainer Robert Garcia advised Marcos Maidana to "play dirty" during his May 3 majority decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Click here for a video of All-Access: Mayweather vs. Maidana Epilogue

During the final press conference at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the site of their bout four days later, Mayweather (46-0, 26 knockouts) promised to engage Maidana (35-4, 31 KOs) rather than stick-and-move.

"Saturday, I'm going to give you guys what you want to see," said Mayweather, who turned 37 in February. "No game plan at all. Be first, and I'm gonna be right there."

In turn, Garcia advised Maidana to be rough on Mayweather in their dressing room prior to the fight.

"Don't show this guy any respect," said Garcia. "This is going to be a street fight. A dirty fight."

At one point during the bout, Maidana is shown delivering a low blow and nearly landing a left knee to the groin, the latter being a move that a ringside former undisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson emulated while pointing to the ring in apparent astonishment.

When Mayweather complained to Tony Weeks, Garcia's assistant, Alex Ariza, told Garcia, "the ref is listening to Floyd."

"Don't listen to him when he complains and cries," said Garcia to Maidana between rounds. "Keep throwing punches. Play dirty. Get your arm in there."

Mayweather credited Maidana with being "a tough, rugged dude" during the post-fight press conference, even as he derided the Argentine slugger for dictating "the toughest wrestling match" he had ever been a part of and saying Maidana is "more like a WWE wrestler" than a boxer.

"You're a helluva fighter. You're a very tough competitor. You have a beautiful family," said Mayweather to Maidana during the post-fight press conference. "But in the next fight, don't hit me in the d__k so much."

Later that evening, Mayweather lay in his bedroom resting and nursing his injuries.

"I know that I won the fight, but people never have seen me face adversity. They never seen me face a guy that's so dirty," said Mayweather, pointing to the cut over his right eye. "You know, this didn't come from a punch. This came from a head butt. It don't hurt to give the people a toe-to-toe clash."

Maidana landed 221 punches against Mayweather, more than any other fighter in his past 38 bouts, according to Compubox Stats.

Maidana was also relaxing when he was questioned by his 10-year-old son.

"Will be be back in September?" asked Jo Jo Maidana.

"Yes," said Maidana, referring to a potential return bout. "We'll be back."