Who should Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight next? Easy: Manny Pacquiao, naturally. Outside of the fighting congressman from Sarangani, what opponent could Floyd find to make an equally big, or even bigger, statement? Why, Sergio Martinez, of course.
But Mayweather isn’t the kind of man who feels the need to make a statement. He genuinely believes his fists have said all that needs to be said about his place in boxing history; and though fighting Martinez would be an eye-popping challenge, he certainly could not truly be chastised if he chose not to pursue it.
Perhaps the more relevant question is not who should or could Mayweather fight next, but rather who will he fight next? I doubt if even Floyd knows that for certain right now, but if I had to lay a bet on any one name, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if in 2012 Mayweather mixes it up with Amir Khan.
In many ways, it makes perfect sense. It would renew the rivalry between the Mayweathers and Freddie Roach without having to involve Pacquiao or, more importantly, Bob Arum. Khan has been calling Mayweather out and Mayweather has shown enough interest to respond. And while Khan, a good fighter but far from a great one, might not be taken much more seriously as a challenge in this country than was Victor Ortiz, on the other side of the pond the contest would be huge.
