By Coach Tim Walker – He’s fresh on the heals of his defeat of Shane Mosley and is letting it known that he is serious about taking on the best. Following the fight, Mayweather was asked about the possibility of moving up to middleweight and fighting newly crowned WBC/WBO middleweight champion Sergio Martinez if a fight with Manny Pacquiao can’t be made. Mayweather’s response, “It’s possible.”
Martinez’s name has never come up as a potential opponent for Mayweather but it offers interesting scenarios. Martinez is considerably larger and fights out of a southpaw stance. A style he hasn’t faced in the ring since taking on Zab Judah in 2006. The two losses on Martinez’s 45-2-2 record came at the hands of Antonio Margarito and Paul Williams who are, ironically, also potential future opponents for Mayweather.
Would a match at middleweight signal that Floyd is going to campaign the remainder of his career at higher weights? It’s doubtful, but it does leave room for thought considering the current landscape of potential opponents for the world’s best boxer is very thin at 147.. When you consider how dominant Mayweather was against Shane Mosley, one would be hard pressed to consider the other 147 pound elite as serious challenges. Still, Berto is the actual current WBC champion, is more universally appreciated than the others and would draw moderately more attention than them as well.
Other names that come up sparingly as opponents are current light welterweight champions Amir Kahn and Devon Alexander. Most agree that Kahn and Alexander are too inexperienced for the likes of Mayweather. However, a third champion’s name comes up more frequently, Timothy Bradley. Bradley, who possesses quick hands and an offensive style, has held the WBC 140 pound title and currently holds the WBO version. Recently he has vowed to clean out the 140 division. Admirable to say the least. Stranger things, however, have happened and in the land of plenty money talks and BS rides the subway.
According to Mayweather, a fight with Pacquiao can be made if he agrees to take the test. If he doesn’t agree to take the test then there will be no fight. For now Mayweather enjoys his win, but soon he’ll have to chose a future foe.
Coach Tim Walker is a contributing writer for Eastsideboxing.com and his own personal blog at boxing4life.blogspot.com welcomes comments. To suggest fighters for Monthly Stud and The Project please email tpwalker@hotmail.com. I welcome questions or comments.