By Chris Williams: Undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. is rumored to be contemplating taking on WBC Diamond middleweight champion Sergio Martinez according to the latest boxing news gossip. If this is true, Mayweather will once again be taking a huge fight that Manny Pacquiao has failed to agree to.

Martinez has been after a fight with Pacquiao for the past year, and been largely ignored by Pacquiao’s promoters. But by Mayweather opting to step up and take on Martinez, he would be showing a tremendous amount of courage in a fight that would solidify Mayweather’s legacy should he win.

Martinez is considered by most boxing experts to be the best fighter in both the middleweight and the junior middleweight divisions. By beating Martinez, Mayweather would be showing his greatness. Mayweather fought Shane Mosley in 2010, after Mosley had been ignored by Pacquiao’s management for a fight. Mayweather recently defeated WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz, who also couldn’t get a fight with Pacquiao.

This would be setting the bar high for Pacquiao if Mayweather defeats Martinez, because Pacquiao already still has to get to Ortiz to continue with his pattern of fighting guys that Mayweather recently beat. By adding Martinez’s name, it’s going to put Pacquiao in a game of catch-up that I don’t think he can win. But seriously, I doubt Pacquiao will be allowed to fight Martinez even if he wants to fight him after Mayweather softens him up for the Filipino star.

It takes great defense to beat a fighter like Martinez to avoid getting hurt by him. I just think the risk would be too high for Pacquiao against Martinez because he gets hit too much and tends to fight flat-footed. You could say Pacquiao is made to order for a one-punch knockout artist like Martinez. All it would take is one big shot for Martinez to stop Pacquiao, and with all the openings that Pacquiao would be giving him, Martinez would have ample opportunities to knock Pacquiao out.