By Romeo Robles – Foreseeing the future is tough to do in any sport, and especially difficult for boxing since fights are made behind closed doors. Despite this, the boxing public knows that Floyd “Money” Mayweather, Jr. plans to fight on March 13. His opponents, as of now, could be Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley, Jr., Nate “The Galaxxy Warrior” Campbell, Paul “The Magic Man” Malignaggi, or Kermit “El Asesino” Cintron. All of these fighters are world class athletes and each deserves his shot at making a large sum of money through a fight with “Money”. To illustrate, Tim Bradley shined in his last bout exhibiting increased power and faster lateral movement, Campbell is a former unified lightweight champion, Malignaggi showed first class determination and heart in his two fights with Juan Diaz, and Cintron wins by KO in almost every one of his fights.
However, is it likely for any of these fighters to truly beat Mayweather on March 13? Most of the boxing public would say no. In fact, many will argue that this is a continuation of Mayweather’s habit of handpicking smaller opponents to protect his undefeated record except in the case that he selects Cintron as his opponent. Given this widely held public belief about Mayweather, the obvious fight he should select is Cintron in order to prove doubters and naysayers incorrect. Actually, it would be in Mayweather’s best interest in terms of his legacy to fight Cintron at the junior middleweight limit..
If he entertains the idea of fighting a junior middleweight, perhaps he should expand the list to include every junior middleweight. Consequently, Floyd should consider the man that controversially received a draw with Cintron instead, junior middleweight titlist Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez. It creates a more compelling matchup as the interim WBC light middleweight title will be at risk, and this is something that appeals to the casual boxing fan. Moreover, Martinez is a hot commodity right now due to his December fight of the year candidate with Paul Williams and even is entertaining a possible fight with middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik. Thus, it is likely that more media outlets would be willing to buy the rights to televise a Mayweather-Martinez fight. Martinez’s size, speed, southpaw stance, and strength may provide a greater challenge to Mayweather than he has ever faced before since he provided a stiff challenge for Paul Williams. This would impress the boxing public much more than the other potential challengers. Lastly, it enhances Floyd’s bargaining power in any future fight, with Manny Pacquiao or without, and it, at the least, forces everyone to reevaluate their pound-for-pound rankings.
In any future fight, Mayweather will likely be projected to win because of his physical talent, lightning hand speed, impenetrable defense, and fantastic boxing ability. He is a scientist in every sense that boxing is a sweet science. He may be too good for his own good. Mayweather may be remembered as a fighter that never fought anyone because he was a talent without equal, which would be a disservice both to him and to the boxing public. However, he can at least seek out great challenges in higher weight classes as other hall of fame fighters have done before. In the end, Mayweather will choose what is best for him, as he should be allowed to do. As humans we should respect it, but as paying boxing fans we have every right to voice our opinions.