?If Mayweather-Pacquiao ever happens, it?ll be because Pacquiao came to Mayweather, with hat in hands and concessions ready to be conceded??
?If Mayweather-Pacquiao ever happens, it?ll be because Pacquiao came to Mayweather, with hat in hands and concessions ready to be conceded. This is no longer a bout made on equal footing and, at this point, nobody expects it to be a 50-50 business affair.??Paul Magno
Floyd Mayweather Jr. has an incredible level of buzz going his way right now, but keep it going because he needs his next opponent to be Canelo-like with a reasonable chance to win. In my view, Danny Garcia fills the bill. Having beaten Lucas Matthysse decisively, the undefeated Garcia has become a viable candidate. Moreover, the undercard featuring Angel Garcia vs. Floyd Sr. promises to add fuel to the extravaganza. Once again, ?someone?s ?0? must go. ?
After disposing of ?Swift,? Junior will be entitled to a break and who better to present that than the UK?s Amir ?King? Khan. What a Khan fight offers is an opportunity for Mayweather to keep the buzz going but this time on foreign soil for the very first time. A Mayweather- Khan would be for the UK what Canelo-Mayweather was for the U.S. except that the savvy Brit fans are more realistic when it comes to assessing hype and buying into Canelo-type mania.
After dispatching Khan, Mayweather will move to 47-0 and in reach of the magic 50-0 mark that will give him even more gravitas for being considered an All Time Great. But he will need to pick his opponents carefully so that while on the one hand they offer viability, on the other he can maintain his edge. The inflection point here is a tricky one.
Subsequent Possibilities
A highly unlikely Bernard Hopkins at a catchweight, an unlikely Gennady Golovkin, Sergio Martinez, Manny Pacquiao, Timothy Bradley, Brandon Rios, maybe even Ruslan Provodnikov depending on how he does against the all-action Mike Alvarado, and the remote possibility of a rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez if he KOs Bradley in spectacular fashion. If Alvarado does well against Ruslan, he can get into the sweepstakes as well.
GGG and Hopkins are no-no?s
Why are GGG and Hopkins unlikely? Golden Boy De La Hoya fought at 130, 135, 140, and 147 until he was almost 30, but when he came back down to face Pacquiao, he was obliterated. Coming down in weight is more often than not a recipe for big trouble, particularly if a fighter has fought a significant number of fights at a higher weight.
The next fight (and win) for GGG is against the boisterous Curtis Stevens. At this point Quillin and Martinez won?t fight him, but that will change and I see Quillin stepping up to the nasty task. Martinez is no fool and he will agree to fight Mayweather and take his retirement package with not nearly the beating he would get against Golovkin.
Golovkin is a masterful boxer and crushing puncher, and I go could on and on and on. His punches are extremely compact and he cuts the ring off better than any living boxer. He takes people who Sergio Martinez had difficulty with and slaughters them. He is not Alvarez who let Matthew Hatton go the distance; he is not 22 years old; he didn?t have 35 amateur fights. And he is not a Robert Guerrero who asks you to punch him in the face. But more to the point, he is a middleweight.
Martinez, Bradley (if he beats JMM), and finally Pacquiao, though beating Rios impressively doesn?t necessarily translate to a competitive fight against Floyd. However, from a financial standpoint, a Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight would raise the all-time bar, and for a guy with Mayweather?s nickname, that translates to ?let?s get it on.?
Here they are: 1. Garcia 2. Khan 3. Martinez 4. Bradley 5. Pacquiao
