Late last night Floyd Mayweather and Marcos Maidana exchanged the following emails forwarded to me by confidential sources in each camp.

From: Marcos
Subject: Punishing Mayweather

I know what you think and don’t care because it doesn’t matter I lost every round my first fight as a welterweight, against Devon Alexander, about two years ago. You think you’ll own me, but you don’t understand how much I’ve grown. I’m not only talking in physical terms, getting bigger and stronger and hitting much harder now that I’ve assimilated seven more pounds. I’m referring to my mind. In my next fight I took on a guy who had seven losses, a good fighter but more appropriate for someone new to this division, and knocked him down in the seventh and finished him in the eighth. I stepped up in competition my next two fights and stopped both those guys, too.

After that, I knew what Adrien Broner was thinking: he’d be too fast and tough for me. Let me guarantee you: no welterweight is too tough. I’m realistic and understand you’re faster, but tougher, no way. Ask Broner, who like me started out too high in a new division, in his case jumping a dozen ill-advised pounds. But he’s a talented guy, and he’s got heart, otherwise he wouldn’t have survived the pounding I gave his head and body.

You believe Broner’s merely your little boxing brother, and I agree. I’m not going to bust you up like I did him. You’re hard to hit, especially in the head. I won’t go out swinging for your face still smooth after a lifetime in the ring. I’ll target your body. I’ll bang some ribs. I’ll bust your stomach. I’ll test your heart. You’ve got a good one, I know, but no one seems to hit it or even try. You’re not going to block or evade all my bombs downstairs. And after awhile you won’t be moving or thinking as well. That’s when I’ll nail you with left hooks to the head and your bell will ring like it never has. That’s when those Mayweather fans start cheering for me. They know you don’t want a war, and war is exactly what most of them crave.

From: Money
Subject: Whipping Maidana’s Ass

I knew that’s what you were thinking and that’s what you’ve got to think even though it’s delusional. You’re not going to be banging my body because every time you get close enough to try I’ll pop you with overhand rights. Seriously, I’m worried about your head, but I’m not holding back. You step into the ring with Floyd Mayweather, you get carved by an artist who doesn’t like people in his studio. You’ll barely touch me. Floyd’s the one who does the touching. I doubt you’ll win more than two or three rounds. Canelo Alvarez didn’t, and he’s bigger and better than you. If I didn’t think that, we wouldn’t be fighting.