Meet Mayweather's Next Opponent

This Saturday, Floyd Mayweather will fight Marcos Maidana at the MGM Grand Garden Arena— it will be broadcasted via pay-per-view by Showtime. Mayweather, 45-0, is pound-for-pound the strongest boxer in the world right now, and arguably the biggest name in the sport.

Maidana, on the other hand, isn’t as well known. To help you out, we’ve compiled this handy guide on Mayweather’s next opponent.

Who Is Marcos Maidana?

Marcos “El Chino” Maidana is an Argentine welterweight boxer (147 pounds) whose professional record is 35-3. Maidana fought in the lighter junior-welterweight division until February 2012, when he moved up to 147 pounds to fight Devon Alexander. He lost. A self-proclaimed troublemaker, Maidana found his way into boxing as a teenager. “El Chino” has been Maidana’s nickname since his youth, when his friends noticed what they thought were “Chinese-like” features. Now 30 years old, Maidana has fought professionally since just before his 21st birthday. He’s currently being trained by Robert Garcia.

Maidana relies on his hard and heavy blows, and less on footwork and dancing. However, training under Garcia, Maidana has worked to diversify his fighting style, improving his jabs and his stance so he doesn’t have to take punches to give blows. Here’s one of Maidana’s strongest moments in his last professional fight, against Adrien Broner.

Maidana earned this fight by taking out then-undefeated—and heavily favored— Adrien Broner back in Dec. 2013. The unanimous decision for Maidana earned him the World Boxing Association welterweight belt. Maidana will fight Mayweather for the World Boxing Council and The Ring Welterweight titles. Maidana’s win against Broner is particularly interesting going into the Mayweather fight because Broner’s fighting style has been considered “Mayweather-esque,” and Broner is often considered a protege of Mayweather.

So, does Maidana have a real shot at winning?

Probably not. Las Vegas odds has Mayweather as a -1000* favorite over Maidana. In other words, you’d have to wager $1,000 on Mayweather to win just $100. That being said, Mayweather isn’t underestimating his opponent. In a pre-fight conference call, Mayweather said:

“Adrien Broner’s a good boxer and he roughed Adrien Broner up and he got to victory, so we can’t say what this guy, what he can or he can’t do. We cannot overlook the guy. I can’t just say he’s going to be an easy fight because he’s not going to be an easy fight for me, I don’t think so. What I have to do is I’ve got to make sure that I’m at my best. So May 3 I’ve got to go out there and take my time, keep my composure and be me. Everybody thinks he’s just going to be a pushover, but I don’t think so. That’s why I’m training hard and I’m pushing myself to the limit every day.”

So, what are we supposed to take away from this?

Basically, Mayweather is favored by a long shot, but Maidana has a chance to make Saturday a really interesting fight.

*Odds according to Vegas Insider