After trashing Saul “Canelo” Alvarez at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada Saturday night, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and his camp will soon start handpicking his next opponent for the third of his six-fight contract with CBS/Showtime. Mayweather, who remains unbeaten in 45 professional fights, used his skill and experience to frustrate the 23-year-old Mexican boxing sensation for what could have been a unanimous decision had it not been for an even score handed by one of the three judges. Judges Craig Metcalfe had it 117-111 while Dave Moretti scored it 116-112 in favour of Mayweather. Judge CJ Ross scored the fight at 114-114. Mayweather and his camp were visibly shocked with the seemingly flawed scoring by the lady judge. Read more. Ross is the same judge who figured in a controversial decision that caused the loss of Filipino boxing star Manny Pacquiao against Timothy Bradley last year. Before facing Alvarez last Saturday, Mayweather has talked about allegations by some of his critics that he and his camp have handpicked his foes to keep his untainted record and to keep his stature as the world’s highest-paid athlete. “Floyd Mayweather admits his undefeated record has been partly built on the backs of handpicked opponents who did not always provide the toughest fights – but did help him become the world’s best paid athlete,” AFP writes. With his admission, Mayweather will continue to get richer and will remain unchallenged as the world’s best-paid athlete. Likewise, he could remain unbeaten until he retires for good after completing his contract with Showtime. But will Mayweather remain the greatest fighter of all time as he wanted to be when he retires? Critics say Mayweather has to face the best challengers to his throne to prove that he is indeed the greatest. Pacquiao, who has repeatedly challenged Mayweather’s claim to greatness for the past three years, has renewed his call for them to face each other in the ring. Earlier, Mayweather said Pacquiao needs to recover from his two straight losses to remain in contention. Right after his victory over Alvarez, Mayweather said he is not thinking about Pacquiao for his next fight. ?I want to take my promotion to another level. I am not thinking about Manny Pacquiao,? he said. Still, Pacquiao appears to be the his top challenger who can cement his legacy as the greatest boxer of all time. But he has to win convincingly against the Filipino boxing star. Boxing analysts say Pacquiao’s fighting style is tailor-made for Mayweather. His foot and hand speed will keep Mayweather at bay as they clash. Also, being a southpaw, Pacquiao will have an added advantage over the unbeaten champ, who has difficulty in confronting southpaw fighters. According to these analysts and keen boxing observers, Mayweather must be confronted or attacked by his opponent without let up to keep him off balanced and render his defenses ineffective. Seemingly, only Pacquiao has the kind of speed and power necessary for a challenger to beat Mayweather. To keep his legacy as the world’s greatest fighter, he needs to face Pacquiao in the ring to validate his claim to greatness.
