By Luis Sandoval

The first time Floyd “Money” Mayweather and Marcos “Chino” Maidana squared off last May there was a calm before the storm as both fighters were respectful and there was seldom any trash talking. Fast forward to their rematch and the war of words started as soon as their press tour kicked off and has not let up.

In the past, Mayweather has been known to verbally beat down his opponents before they step in the ring but Maidana has taken a page out of Floyd’s book and started a verbal onslaught of his own. During an international media conference call Tuesday afternoon, Maidana went as far telling Floyd to “Stop crying like a little b*tch and fight”.

When BoxingScene spoke to Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe he was amused by some of Maidana’s comments but assures Maidana will have a hard time backing up his words on fight night.

“Floyd is looking extremely sharp. His preparation is unbelievable. He’s extremely motivated for this fight. And I think a lot has to do with Floyd not paying attention to the critics but surprisingly, Maidana has been talking a lot of trash,” said a smiling Ellerbe. “So come September 13th, it’s going to be interesting. It’s going to be quite interesting because all that talking, [Maidana’s] got to fight”.

Mayweather was able to outpoint Maidana over twelve rounds in their first affair but it didn’t come easy as the hard hitting Argentinean kept his foot on the gas the whole night and pressured and mauled Floyd. Maidana admitted to BoxingScene a few weeks ago that his confidence was high due to what he was able to do in the first fight and felt he could improve in the rematch.

Many are expecting Floyd to fight a different fight this time around as he didn’t make things easy for himself by lying on the ropes and standing in front of the charging Maidana. Leonard feels Mayweather is coming into this fight with something to prove and even feels this will be the best performance we’ve seen from the reigning pound for pound king.

“I think Maidana is coming into this fight with a tremendous amount of confidence. Coming off the Broner fight where he looked sensational. He’s coming into this Mayweather fight [after] he put on an outstanding performance. And he’s coming out of there saying things like ‘Floyd can’t punch’ and Floyd was not all he thought he was going to be. So come September 13th, he’s gotta deal with Floyd. Floyd is extremely motivated to put on a spectacular performance. I think this one right here will be Floyd’s best performance to date,” Ellerbe would tell BoxingScene.

Both fighters are deep in training with a little over 2 weeks left before they meet for a second time.

You can follow Luis Sandoval on Twitter & Instagram @Truewest007