Boxingchronicles.com goes into depth about Money May's next potential opponent and the politics that are involved!
Floyd Mayweather Jr W12 Juan Manuel Marquez... Greetings boxing fans. As we all know by now, undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. made a successful return to the ring from his 21 month retirement, unanimously outpointing lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas last Saturday night. The three officially judges scored the contest 120-107, 119-108, and 118-109 all in favor of Mayweather. Boxingchronicles.com also scored the fight a shut out, 120-107. Late last week, I said I would be posting a prediction and I did not do so. My apologies for not giving you my prediction on that fight.
For the record, my final prediction was Mayweather by a 10th round TKO. Credit to Marquez for being a game competitor who rose from a second round knockdown to fight hard and hang on until the final bell rang. If there were any signs of ring rust with Mayweather, this reporter certainly did not see them. Mayweather was as sharp and elusive as ever, ducking and dodging any offensive attacks that the great Mexican boxer had to offer, even though he did end up having to pay Marquez $600,000 for weighing in two pounds over the contracted fighting weight of 144lbs. Final punch stat numbers showed that Marquez was reduced to a total of 69 connected punches over the course of 12 rounds, product of Mayweather's slippery defense.
What is next for Mayweather? The Pacquiao vs. Cotto welterweight fight is scheduled to take place of November 14 in Las Vegas, so perhaps Mayweather will take a rest and see who emerges victorious in that fight. Manny Pacquiao is the best fighter and by far the biggest PPV attraction currently active that Mayweather could potentially face. The biggest obstacle, of course, is the ongoing feud between Mayweather and Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank. Arum and Mayweather do not see eye to eye in the world of business. Mayweather claims that Arum kept him in the dark, back when Oscar De la hoya was his bread and butter super star in the mid to late 90's, and failed to transcend him into the super star that he always felt he deserved to be when he was fighting for Top Rank.
Arum, on the other hand, is reluctant to stage an event that features any of his fighters against the flashy, brash talking former pound for pound king. According to Arum, Mayweather is a great defensive fighter who chooses not to engage his opponents.
Arum was quoted as saying, "Mayweather vs. Pacquiao would resemble that of a hunter going after a deer." As long as Arum maintains those feelings about Mayweather, a fight with Pacquiao is going to be a challenge to put together anytime soon.
Welterweight champion Sugar Shane Mosley is eager to face Mayweather, to the point of getting up into the ring to call out Mayweather during his post fight interview with Max Kellerman immediately after the fight. Kellerman's interview, at the point at which Mosley intervened became entertaining. Yours truly does agree with Mayweather that Kellerman does have a tendency to talk too much and his interviews are often longer than they need to be. Mayweather's not the only fighter who thinks Kellerman talks too much. Others, such as Victor Ortiz, have also gotten fed up over Kellerman's extended interviews.
On the other hand, Mosley was impressively bold in approaching Mayweather as he did and calling him out to his face. Let's be real here, boxing fans. BoxingChronicles is all about real boxing discussion and legitimate boxing views based on factual information. Mayweather has often said in interviews with journalists and broadcasters such as ESPN's Brian Kenny, Boxingtalk's Greg Leon, and HBO boxing analyst Larry Merchant that he doesn't need to call anyone out; he's the one that gets called out. Mayweather has claimed that fighters need to chase him because he's the face of boxing, that is where the money is at, all roads lead to Floyd Mayweather, and he is the Pound for Pound the best fighter in the sport.
Ricky Hatton called Mayweather out in June of 2007 following his win over Jose Luis Castillo; Mayweather fought him in December of 2007. Marquez called Mayweather out in February of this year; Mayweather just fought him this past weekend. Mosley has now called Mayweather out. How exactly did Mayweather respond? A slighted and noticably irritated Mayweather replied to Mosley, "I don't come up here and interrupt you when you're doing your interview. Don't disrespect me. Respect me as a man." Mayweather's claim of an interruption would be credible, if Mayweather hadn't flagged Mosley over to him in the first place as the telecast clearly shows.
In an
interview conducted by Ben Thompson published today on Fighthype, Mosley accurately explained what happened during the post fight interview.
"Well, first of all, I heard my name being mentioned. Max Kellerman called my name and started walking towards him and I see Mayweather flagging me over. I said, alright, maybe he wants to fight."
Fact of the matter is, Mosley has challenged Mayweather and it remains to be seen if Mayweather will be consistent in his response to that same tactic that was taken on the part of his previous foes.
Common sense clearly dictates that Money May's next fight should either be against Shane Mosley or the Pacquiao vs. Cotto winner. Any other fight for Mayweather would not make sense, monetarily or competitively, for the self proclaimed best pound for pound fighter in the sport and also the biggest money maker. This reporter is inclined to believe that Mayweather's next opponent could potentially be the Pacquiao vs. Cotto winner, ONLY if Mayweather decides to wait on the winner of that fight [preferably if it's Pacquiao] rather than to fight Mosley in the interim. The Mosley fight should be pretty easy for Team Mayweather to put together, due to the fact that Mosley would have limited leverage at the negotiating table and he's with Golden Boy Promotions, just as Mayweather's last three victims have been.
Pacquiao is more of a problem in terms of negotiations because he, too, believes that he is entitled to the greater half of the pot, plus he fights for Bob Arum. Regardless, Mayweather knows he can make the most money with Pacquiao, it's the biggest event that the sport could offer right now due to the fact that people are split on who they think is the best in the world between the two.
At the end of the day, Floyd Mayweather did himself some good by looking sharp in the ring and performing as well as he did in his shut out unanimous decision victory over Marquez, dismissing the argument in the pound for pound race between the two best fighters in the world that Pacquiao, who twice struggled with Marquez, did a more impressive job against Mayweather's previous opponents Oscar De la hoya and Ricky Hatton.
Easiest fight to make for Mayweather would appear to be Mosley. The only fight that matters or that anybody really cares about is Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. Let's wait and see what happens on November 14 between Pacquiao and Cotto. At this point, I would love to see Mayweather against either one of them. No more blown up lightweights.
