By James Slater: It seems we can pretty much forget about a Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight (many fans forgot about it a while ago, truth be told; as sick as they became due to the on/off/maybe on/maybe off super-fight). Over the weekend, 34-year-old “Money-May” spoke about the possibility of him making the move up to middleweight and taking on Sergio Martinez.
Mayweather, who added in his conversation with The Boxing Socialist that his “main focus right now is Miguel Cotto,” has also spoken of his plans to have a further four or five fights after the Cotto showdown of May 5th. It seems Mayweather is looking at cementing his legacy and, after he’s paid his debt to society by way of that well-publicised upcoming 90-day stint in prison, Floyd could do so without fighting Pac-Man.
Already, Mayweather himself and a number of fine boxing judges/experts rank Floyd as one of the greatest fighters of all-time. But how highly would the self-described “best ever” be ranked if he were to do the following: beat Cotto by dominant stoppage, then see off British star Amir Khan in similarly impressive fashion (this match-up has been talked about by Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy; the deal being that Khan has to gain revenge over Lamont Peterson a fortnight after Mayweather-Cotto goes down), then move up to middleweight and defeat Martinez, say by decision, and then cap off his amazing career with a massive U.S.A Vs. Mexico showdown between he and “Canelo” Alvarez; with Floyd winning with something spare?
How great would Mayweather become then!? It’s a tall order for Floyd to achieve all this, but I wouldn’t bet against him doing it. I’m sure you wouldn’t either. For a while now, fans have urged Mayweather to risk his “0” by taking on the fearsome Argentine southpaw who has said he’d meet Mayweather (or Pacquiao come to that) at a catch-weight; possibly one as low as 150-pounds. It seems Floyd listens to the fans, and as a result we should not be surprised if Mayweather gets it on with “Maravilla” next year some time. And guess what? Mayweather beats him.
Styles make fights, and we’ve seen Martinez out-boxed by lesser fighters than Mayweather. Next year, when he may have slowed just a little (Floyd is, after all, a master at getting the timing of a fight just right), Martinez will, in my opinion, be frustrated, out-speeded and out-pointed. That right there would be a massive high note on which Mayweather could choose to exit the sport. But to be in with a shout at being ranked alongside the true immortals (think Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali and Henry Armstrong), Mayweather would have to achieve more.
Wins over Khan (a dead-cert for Mayweather if the fight actually comes off) and Alvarez (a tougher fight but still one Mayweather’s talent and experience, to say nothing of his desire to retain his perfect record, would be able to win) just might force the historians to rank Floyd in the top-10 of all-time. These career-ending, legacy-cementing wins, combined with an unbeaten record, would earn “Money” a most enviable spot amongst the greats. And that’s what Floyd wants more than anything.
He may never be placed above Messrs. Robinson, Ali and Armstrong, but if he pulls off all of the above, I’d be willing to bet that many writers, pundits, experts and fans would have no issue slotting Floyd in at #4 all-time!
Think about it: Floyd Mayweather Junior, 46-0 – Weights conquered: super-feather, light, light-welter, welter, light-middle, middleweight!