by James Slater – With the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight seemingly all set for Dallas on March 13th, fans are wondering what Floyd Mayweather Junior will do for his next fight. Well, according to the latest word on the net, “Money” will also fight on March 13th, at The MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Going head-to-head at the box office with the man he should have met head on in the ring, Mayweather is, according to ESPN.com, looking at facing either Paulie Malignaggi, Nate Campbell, Timothy Bradley or Kermit Cintron.
If this is indeed what happens, then, and the two pound-for-pound rivals, who may never actually settle their differences in the ring, fight on the same night in different venues and on different TV stations – who will come out on top at the box office?
Promoter Bob Arum is hoping to get 50,000 fans to come to the Pacquiao-Clottey fight at The Dallas Cowboys stadium, but now, with another big fight set to take place in Vegas that same day, maybe the fans will be split right down the middle about where to go.. One thing’s for sure, whichever fighter it is that gets the biggest turnout and the biggest viewing audience on TV, he’ll leave the other fighter feeling somewhat deflated. A real battle of egos is about to be upon us it seems.
Pacquiao-Clottey is a good, solid fight, and my money is on this bout getting the larger share of fan interest on March 13th – whoever it is from the shortlist he reportedly has that Mayweather chooses to face. Mayweather-Bradley is probably the best possible option from the shortlist, but a fight between the pound-for-pound #2 and either Campbell or Cintron could also be interesting.
There has also been some talk that Mayweather may, just may, wind up facing the winner of the Jan.30th Shane Mosley-Andre Bero fight in March; and if this is true it’s an entirely different story. For though it’s unlikely to actually happen, going by the timeframe alone, a clash between Mayweather and the winner of the WBA/WBC 147-pound unification fight would very likely blow the Pacquiao-Clottey fight pretty much away. As close to a satisfactory replacement for Pacquiao-Mayweather as can be, a Mosley-Mayweather fight (I think Shane beats Berto) would be huge!
Fans have had about enough of the on/off/on/off Pacquiao-Mayweather fight and now that the mega-match looks dead, it’s time to move on. It seems fans WILL get to see both stars in action on March 13th after all; just not against each other.
One more thing of note has been reported. Matthew Hatton, brother, of course, of Ricky, will not now be facing Mayweather.
“There is absolutely no truth to the rumours about Matthew Hatton,” Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com. “I can’t tell you for sure who Floyd will fight, but I can tell you for sure it won’t be Matthew Hatton.”
This news is unlikely to upset anyone outside of the Hatton family.