By Robert Jackson: About a year ago this writer penned an ESB article “When will Floyd Mayweather return?”. In that article I predicted he would return when both the money is large enough and the challenge large enough for his doubters and naysayers to believe that Floyd can be beaten. The money IS large enough and after a 16 month layoff an equal amount of fans believe that Marquez can beat Mayweather. Other fans particularly Mayweather critics are saying that Marquez is too small, I say why not Marquez? The only fighter with whom Pacquiao has struggled, with many believing he lost to Marquez at least once and some believe twice!
During the time between PBF’s last bout with Ricky Hatton in December 2007 and the present, 4 active fighters have established themselves above the rest, Shane Mosley, Paul Williams, Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao. Golden Boy’s Shane Mosley determined that it would be best and endorsed a fight between Mayweather and Golden Boy Promoted Juan Manuel Marquez, while he seeks a fight against Pacquiao. Paul Williams a fighter with a very bright future hasn’t caught on with casual fans yet and his last fight against Winky Wright turned out to be a lackluster event where many of the stadium seats went unfilled along with that Al Haymon advises both Mayweather and Williams turning this into a very hard fight to make. Marquez after KOing Juan Diaz in search of a rubbermatch with Pacquiao called Mayweather out. Then there’s Manny Pacquiao whose last 2 crushing victories were over Oscar DeLaHoya and Ricky Hatton, the last 2 fighters also defeated by Mayweather and this presents a very compelling matchup.
Seeking a $15M-$20M guarantee for his return bout Mayweather Jr sought out the services of one Don King to make it happen. It turns out many of the parties involved with Mayweathers return didn’t want to deal outside of Mayweather’s own circle of influence so the bout was made under PBF’s financial conditions. The only remaining issue is the weight that this bout will be fought at, Team Marquez prefers 143lbs but would be willing to fight at 144lbs, Mayweather has said he will go no lower than 145lbs. Expect a few more $$$ to be thrown Marquez’ way for a 144lbs +/- 1 pound catch weight, that way both men get their wish! Mayweather’s objective here is to soundly defeat the one fighter that Pacquiao has had the most problems with and by doing so secure an equal share and say-so at the negotiations table for a Mayweather/Pacquiao bout.
With Pacman’s big wins, the emergence of Paul Williams, the re-emergence of Shane Mosley , the ‘glove loading’ controversy surrounding Antonio Margarito and the return of Pretty Boy Floyd to boxing, 2009 will be a stellar year for the sweet science. On the contrary, the “Grease Gate” controversy, the decline of UFC stars Chuck Liddell and Matt Hughes coupled with recent lackluster performances of current star and UFC 185lb Champion Anderson Silva, leave MMA’s premier league short on star power. The buzz now is squarely on boxing, so NOW is time for the sweet science to take its place at the top of the ‘gladiator sports’ hierarchy as it was for many years in its history. Like him or hate him Pretty Boy Floyd aka ‘Triple M’ (Mainstream Money Mayweather) has had, and will have, a lot to do with boxing’s resurgence. Pretty Boy Floyd welcome back!