As was recently reported by various sources, Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s criminal sentence of 90 days was postponed to fulfill his professional obligations in the ring on May 5th.
Even though most speculated that the delay in serving time was specifically created to produce a mega-fight with boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, it seems that all parties involved still cannot see eye to eye when negotiating the precise details of the potential super bout.
To the dismay of most, Floyd Mayweather Jr will have to continue his pursuit in finding a suitable dance partner for the big May 5th party in Vegas.
Due to the nature of the date, it would make fiscal sense for the pound for pound fighter to choose an opponent of Mexican origin; hence “Canelo” Alvarez’s name has entered the current Floyd Mayweather sweepstakes discussion. Although the prospect of passing the proverbial torch to one of their young superstars would be rather enticing for Golden Boy Promotions, the famed boxing outfit should think twice about pairing their “diamond in the rough” against one of the greatest boxers in the history of the sport.
Alvarez enjoyed a breakthrough year in 2011, and has looked very impressive in winning four bouts against handpicked opposition. The Irish looking Mexican fighter has shown the potential to be one of the sport’s top fighters and is still improving with every fight.
“Canelo” has knocked out 7 of his last 9 opponents, but only one of those combatants were ranked in the top 15 of the Light Middleweight division during their scheduled fight date. Although Saul did indeed emerge as a marketable force in boxing, the young warrior has yet to face any of the top fighters in his weight class, including his WBC mandatory opponents, Vanes Martirosyan and James Kirkland.
So to avoid the appearance of selling out their latest prospect and youngest champion, Golden Boy should look through another area of their massive stable of boxers to satisfy their committed date of “Cinco de Mayo”.
Lately, the promotional group has been acting less than gracious when discussing the terms of a possible rematch between current WBA and IBF Champ Lamont Peterson and their fighter Amir Khan.
Accusations of tainted scorecards and an unqualified referee have soured the potential return bout and have disgusted most boxing observers.
Instead of crying foul play, GBP should exact their sweet revenge by making a global significant bout between Floyd Mayweather and their disgruntled fighter, Amir Khan.
Of course, the proposed super fight would have no cultural significance coinciding with the scheduled date, but even the most loyal Mexican fight fans would be willing to watch the intriguing match-up between two legitimate stars of the sport.
Most detractors of the idea would argue that Amir Khan has unfinished business with Lamont Peterson, and Floyd Mayweather should not consider fighting someone who would be coming into the highly publicized contest with a loss.
Unfortunately, Golden Boy’s options within their internal group of contenders don’t include a very long list of potential candidates for May 5th.
Mexican legend Erik Morales has already committed to a March date with Junior Welterweight contender Danny Garcia, Marcos Maidana is currently slated to fight newly signed acquisition Devon Alexander on February 25th, Lucas Matthysse is currently looking for a big fight but isn’t exactly a major draw outside of Argentina, and Victor Ortiz will have his hands full in a return bout with Andre Berto on February 11th.
The only three realistic options within the 140 and 147 pound weight divisions for the Los Angeles based promotional group are Amir Khan, Robert Guerrero, and Paulie Malignaggi, if they don’t want to reach outside of their current collection of pugilists.
The biggest fight that could be made within the organization would easily be a huge money making bout with Amir Khan. This contest would captivate the masses and stoke the curiosity of even the most discerning fight fan.
Obviously in a perfect world, Golden Boy and Top Rank would create great fight cards in a collaborative effort and give the boxing world the dream match for which we’ve been impatiently clamoring.
But, with all of the unflattering banter that seems to be rampant among twitter enthusiasts, that doesn’t seem likely.
