05.08.06 – By Dave Domenico: With all the endless speculation about who Mayweather will fight next, I believe I have the answer and wish to share it with you now. With Margarito, Mosley and Spinks being named as opponents, my vote goes to Carlos Baldomir. I came of with a list of 10 reasons why that’s the fight to be made. Here we go.
Reason#1: The Schedule. Mayweather is looking for a November date and Baldomir just successfully fought in July. November is plenty of time for both fighters to have more than adequate time to prepare for this fight..
Reason #2: The Hype. With Mayweather being hyped as the best pound for pound fighter in the world, people are curious as ever to watch him in action to see if he backs that up. Of all the possible opponents, Baldomir has made the most buzz since he defeated Zab Judah in a huge upset and of his destruction of Arturo Gatti in a fight where many people had Gatti as the favorite. Of all the fighters, Baldomir has the most impressive back-story of them all.
Reason #3: The Legitimacy. Baldomir is in my opinion the top welterweight in the world since he’s the recognized champion. This fight would be a legitimate match between the two top welterweights in the world.
Reason#4: The Titles. Baldomir holds the WBC belt. A belt in which we all know Mayweather holds very high on his list of trinkets. Mayweather himself is also a belt holder. Since both fighters bring titles to the table, they both have a motivation and best of all it would lead to unification. The unification of titles is something all boxing fans hold in high regard.
Reason#5: The Bragging rights. In my opinion, Mayweather hasn’t really been tested at this weight class. We have seen that Baldomir is a big, tough, and solid welterweight. This fight brings a very good test for Floyd at this weight class.
Reason#6: The Money. Mayweather has been very open about the fact that he likes to call the shots. With Baldomir being a somewhat unknown fighter, we can be fairly certain that Baldomir won’t control the negotiating table like De La Hoya or even Mosley would. The ball would be in Mayweather’s court for this fight and that’s the way he likes it.
Reason#7: The Risk factor. Baldomir has surprised a lot of people in his last two bouts. He looked very solid, consistent and tough which is a always a great combination. However, Baldomir is not super fast or super powerful. Compared to Mayweather, Baldomir looks fairly limited and beatable and that may be a motivation for Floyd.
Reason#8: The Darkhorse factor. Despite the limitations Baldomir has shown compared to the ultra slick Mayweather, this fight isn’t a mismatch. Baldomir does have the ingredients to give Mayweather a lot of problems and maybe even pull the upset. In the past, Mayweather has shown the most difficulty with pressure fighters, and that’s exactly what Baldomir is.
Reason#9: The Challenge factor. Baldomir has stated that he wants to fight Floyd next. He issued a public challenge to Mayweather after he defeated Gatti. If Floyd is truly the people’s champion, he’ll take this fight to prove his worth.
Reason#10: The Legacy factor. Baldomir has his big chance to not only get a big payday but to also get recognition if he could defeat Floyd. That’s his motivation. On the Other hand, Mayweather is still searching for that career defining fight to truly cement his legacy. I think this fight would be the best choice for such a consideration at this point in his career. See my point?!
Well, folks here are my observation. We’ll see what will happen.