Floyd Mayweather has picked the worst possible way to finish off a first ballot Hall of Fame career. Matched against an opponent in Andre Berto, who may be a 100-to-1 betting underdog by fight night, he has doomed his final fight to be the punch line of some cynical boxing joke.
Trapped in a lose-lose proposition, a dominant Mayweather will reign over a universally-panned opponent on a poorly-received PPV telecast, likely to produce fewer than half as many buys as his bouts with Maidana or even Robert Guerrero. If he looks anything less than dominant in victory, it will be seen as if it were a loss by a public waiting on a one-sided showing. And if Mayweather loses? Well, expect the five-division champ to be the laughingstock of the boxing world as he heads out into retirement.
So, there?s really no way for Mayweather to emerge from his September 12 date as the conquering hero, no matter how much he would like to be seen as one.
Meanwhile, the stars are aligning for Manny Pacquiao.
With a perfectly-progressing recovery for his shoulder, Pacquiao?s plans seem to be leaning towards a ring return in the spring of 2016 and, thanks to Mayweather, the biggest of all possible money fights (except for a Mayweather rematch) seems to have been dumped right in his lap.
“Amir Khan has been begging Mayweather for a fight and now he can get a major fight,? Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum recently told the Telegraph UK. ?I’m not a hard guy to deal with. I’m not going to mess them around?One thing’s for sure, Pacquiao is not ducking Khan. Pacquiao will fight him. I don’t know if Khan will fight Pacquiao, but it’s available.”
After dismissing the Mayweather-Berto fight as a ?farce,? Arum went on to talk about a very doable showdown between his fighter and Khan at a venue, perhaps, in the Middle East.
Given Khan?s Muslim background and the oil-rich Middle Eastern business tycoons thirsting for live fight action, the purse money is sure to be insane and well above that of any other fight to be staged in 2016.
But with or without Khan, Manny will begin the year rejuvenated and still beloved by his legion of international fans. A big money rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez is more possible now than at any point since Manny was stopped by the Mexican in 2012. Kell Brook is an emerging UK star, who would fit nicely into Manny?s plans. American Terence Crawford is earning a reputation as the next big thing and may be in line for a Pacquiao bout. Count Lucas Matthysse and Ruslan Provodnikov as other big fight possibilities for the Filipino icon.
And this rejuvenation will be happening just as Mayweather is leaving the sport with a bad taste in its proverbial mouth after the cynical final fight pairing with Berto.
They say that ?He who laughs last, laughs best? and nowhere is this saying more distinctly provable than in the feud between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.
