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By Raj Parmar: It was only a few days ago that Leonard Ellerbe (CEO of Mayweather Promotions) surprisingly walked into the gym of trainer Robert Garcia during Marcos Maidana’s media day training session. It was unusual to see such a prominent figure from the Mayweather camp come all the way to Los Angeles and many were interested in why.

Ellerbe stated it was because he had been hearing lots of rumblings that Maidana has been looking phenomenal in training and hears that he has been doing serious damage to sparring partners. Ellerbe stated he felt the need to check out the gym for himself and get a closer look.

The rumors were justified as Garcia and conditioning coach Alex Ariza have been training Maidana to be a wrecking machine on May 3 when he steps in the same ring with Mayweather. They had been training him to throw over 100 punches a round, each one with power and speed. As camp wraps up in a week or two, Maidana was heading into peak physical condition in his first complete camp with Garcia and Ariza. Now, a devastating bombshell has been dropped on Maidana and his team.

According to Fightnews, Maidana’s former trainer Guillermo Serra has filed a lawsuit against Maidana stating that he has in his possession a valid contract with Maidana stating that he is officially his manager until 2016. Marcos has not heard from Serra since 2006, however, Serra is looking for money that will be owed to him from the Mayweather payday as he is per the contract Maidana’s official manager.

A judge in Argentina has looked at the contract and has decided to withhold Maidana’s multi-million dollar purse until the matter is resolved. Maidana’s advisers have stated that the contract that Maidana originally signed many years ago did not have the end date filled out, and that Serra put in the 2016 date well after he stopped training Maidana in 2006.

This will no doubt have an effect on Maidana’s final preparations for Mayweather. Maidana, Garcia and Ariza will be preparing to fight the biggest star in the sport for potentially no immediate compensation. What was once a efficient training camp has surely changed with this lawsuit, and as a result a black cloud is now hanging over Maidana and his team at the worst possible time.

The fight with Floyd is the most important fight for all involved in team Maidana, and what was an uphill fight to begin with for Maidana has now gotten even more tough as the strain of the lawsuit and the withheld purse will add further mental stress to the already rough task of trying to figure out how to land punches on the best defensive fighter in the sport.