By Robert Jackson: Following his May 5, 2012 victory Floyd Mayweather ceremoniously called out P4P co-king Manny Pacquiao to fight him, admonishing promoter Bob Arum at the same time. In the days since, Floyd’s next fight has been a hot topic of discussion on the net and social networks.
Besides Pacquiao, a Miguel Cotto rematch is one of the fights many are calling for. Canelo Alvarez is ranked as well. Others want to see Mayweather tie it off against Amir Khan and Robert Guerrero who makes his 147lb debut soon is in the mix too. Middleweight King Sergio Martinez is also a consideration for Mayweather.
Fan favorite, Canelo Alvarez deemed not ready for Mayweather by his promoter Oscar De La Hoya is probably out of the running for now and will see his handlers taking him in a different direction that may include James Kirkland, Paul Williams and eventually Miguel Cotto.
Robert Guerrero facing Selcuk Aydin in his 147lb debut fight may not be ready for the division having never fought there while jumping directly from the 135lb division where he never faced any of the other elite 135lbers. Guerrero also fails to bring a large fan base with him.
Miguel Cotto who fought well while losing to Mayweather, in a rematch may not bring the drama to a rematch as was the case of the first fight and many of those who thought that he could win probably won’t give him a chance of winning and won’t want to plunk down another $60 or $70 to see him lose again probably worse the 2nd time around.
Amir Khan having moved on from the Lamont Peterson rematch due to a positive PED test by Peterson has his own ‘fish to fry’ and isn’t yet ready to move up to 147lbs. Looks like he may be fighting Danny Garcia in the summer.
Martinez the lineal middleweight champion in hot pursuit of WBC 160lb champ Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has said he wants to fight Mayweather. Mayweather has also said that fighting Martinez is a possibility. This scribe believes Martinez will NEVER fight Chavez Jr. and expects Chavez Jr. to move up to 168lbs following his fight against Andy Lee. That leaves Martinez without a dance partner in the fall of 2012 and what better way for Mayweather to enhance his legacy then by facing and defeating Martinez? A catchweight of 156lbs could be agreed upon by both fighters, drug testing – which Martinez has said in the past he would agree to, plus a 65/35 purse split and this fight would be on. Fight Fans would by it, Mayweather naysayers paying to see him lose, supporters paying to see him win, in both cases still paying.
Following a 87 day stay in a Las Vegas Jail Mayweather has said he wants to fight again in 2012 and will fight 5 more times before retiring in 2014. What better way to enshrine the Mayweather name amongst boxing’s immortals than to face Sergio Martinez ‘speed against speed’ in the real fight of the century, for the middleweight crown.