“BRAIN DEAD” MOVES PUT FIGHT IN DOUBT
Oakland, CA– It appears that the March mega-fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. (40-0 25 KOs) and Manny Pacquiao (50-3-2 38 KOs) is becoming simply a fantasy fight as negotiations appeared to have crumbled. Or have they? With mixed reports, for the moment I’ll go with the latter. Although there is no bigger fight in boxing, there exist two fighters who are equally in their prime and may now have to look for other opponents over the remainder of the year. And while Pac has lined up (at least in theory) Paulie Malignaggi and Yuri Foreman as possible opponents, what is left for Floyd Mayweather? Surely there are at least a couple options that he has in the wake of the meltdown with Pac.
WELTERS TO BE LESS ATTRACTIVE IN 2010?
Although the welterweight (147 lbs.) division was on fire just a couple years ago, it appears that the action is heating up elsewhere for the time being. Not to mention there was an exodus of biblical proportions in 2008-2009. Oscar De La Hoya retired. Antonio Margarito was expelled. Miguel Cotto’s momentum eroded against Pac. And Paul Williams simply left the division. With all the big names at welterweight now out of the picture, what serious challenge is really left out there for Mayweather where he is most comfortable?
LOOKING GOOD ON PAPER NOT GREEN
Of course there is the ominous presence of Shane Mosley (46-5 39 KOs) but he must first defeat Andre Berto and there is a real possibility that he loses this one. But either way, its likely Mayweather will not want this fight anyway as he’s recently turned it down citing that Mosley is not a big draw. Mayweather might excavate Joshua Clottey (35-3 20 KOs) – a solid match up, but with Clottey coming off a loss, it won’t necessarily boost Mayweather’s all time status or account for the matter.
IS THERE A WORTHY FOE WILLING TO ASCEND?
Aside from the fact that every Mayweather detractor in the world will cry afoul at Floyd facing a natural jr. welterweight (140) it’s possible a rising star from this division could be an option for Floyd to stay active. But does Mayweather versus Amir Khan (22-1, 16 KOs) or Mayweather versus Tim Bradley 25-0 11 KOs) really have PPV or 2 to 3 million buys written all over it? Of course there are other good fighters in the division like Devon Alexander (19-0, 12 KOs), but again the star power just isn’t quite there. With none of these fighters having more than 25 bouts under their belts, it might simply be too soon for any of them to produce a viable threat.
BACK TO THE FUTURE AT 154?
There might be room for an interesting matchup between Floyd and Sergio Martinez (44-2-2 24 KOs), but it’s likely too much risk for reward and Floyd has certainly moved beyond that point in his career. But he does have one of those ‘official’ green WBC belts that Floyd is so fond of. The problem is that’s he been there, done that versus the aforementioned De La Hoya.
“MONEY” SIMPLY TOO MUCH!
Although Manny Pacquiao might be the most exciting boxer in the sport right now, I believe that it’s Mayweather who is truly the best fighter pound for pound. If we go with a fan favorite Manny is the man, but when we talk about skill, technique, etc. not too many fighters can outshine Floyd. But without Pac Floyd may now find himself in a bit of a bind. He might be so good that it actually taints his legacy. A fighter can only be as great as his obstacles. No one is going to buy him fighting a journeyman and most of the top fighters simply don’t have that extra special quality that Manny has, which make an interesting (beyond hardcore fans) fight. There are some good fights out there but they’re not going to hold up to Mayweather’s Money M.O. because the public needs a little more. And while this might mean that Floyd may have to take a few steps back to move forward. Not an ideal scenario but it’s better than re-retirement for him and us all.
Jarrad Woods