From the fighters mentioned as next opponents, the only boxer that Floyd Mayweather Jr. should face would be Manny Pacquiao (assuming he doesn’t renew his contract with Bob Arum’s Top Rank).
Floyd should not hold the sole responsibility for the Pacquiao super-bout not happening, because (as the old adage goes), “it takes two to tango”, as some of the heavily-publicised demands from Manny’s team from previous attempts to negotiate the fight seemed strange or unreasonable – limited blood testing, 50:50 split of the pot; HBO’s involvement etc.
I also don’t believe that Floyd’s legacy will be tarnished if he doesn’t fight Manny, because it’s not uncommon for some of the biggest stars in boxing not to fight each other, but this has not affected their legacies in any way. For example: Roy Jones Jr. didn’t fight Gerald McClellan, Chris Eubank, Nigel Benn, Steve Collins, Dariusz Michalczewski or Julian Jackson.
In regards to the other two marquee names mentioned as opponents, Segio Martinez and Gennady Golovkin, every single time Floyd enters the ring, he faces a man who is roughly 15lbs heavier than himself, which is miraculous in itself.
If he moves up to middleweight to fight the likes of Golovkin and Martinez, this could result in him facing men who could weigh 178-180lbs or so on fight night (because let’s face it, he’d be derided for competing in more catch-weight bouts).
Imagine if Mayweather proved his cynics wrong by defeating these high-profile fighters… the very same people would surely find a way to undermine his achievements (again!) and also claim that his legacy would be equally tarnished if he didn’t replicate Roy Jones Jr’s feat by challenging Wladimir Klitschko for the heavyweight title!
If you’re a true boxing aficionado, you should be appreciating fighters like Floyd Mayweather Jr. whilst they’re still active, rather than setting them unreasonable goals. After all, he’s not a super-hero!!!
