These two decisions lie at the feet of the last known (to casual fans) Pound for Pound great. Floyd Mayweather has two tough choices that can either hurt his career or hurt his career. Canelo and Guerrero are both highly skilled and respected boxers in the boxing community. Either one of these champs would eventually become acceptable to those truly familiar with the sport but this article is focusing on legacy. How will Floyd’s legacy be seen after a confrontation with either of these fighters.
In all honesty Mayweather will always be a victim of his own dominance. We have come to expect something from Floyd that we don’t expect of any other athlete in the world. For him to never lose, and since we expect him to never lose we truly believe he is perfect. Since he is perfect no matter who the opponent he willl never be given his just due. It wasn’t till recently when he came back down to earth and showed that he could be hit and made to bleed that fans applauded his effort. Or was it just Miguel Cotto who poked a hole in Mayweather’s cloak of invincibility?
Rather than give Cotto his credit the majority of us applauded Mayweather for standing and fighting as if it was his choice to leave the ring battered and bloodied. Of course those in the know in the boxing community are now really chomping at the bit to face Mayweather seeing him look mortal. Just as the mythical Loki only wanted to attack Oden when he was in slumber. Mayweather is no longer a immortal he has been downgraded to the status of a king. Unbeknownst to the casual observer. Who will still consecrate him as a boxing immortal. The only other fighter afforded anywhere near this status was Manny Pacquiao that half mortal/ half immortal from the east.
The reason Pacquiao never was afforded total immortal status was because of those blemishes on his record from long ago. Now that he has been virtually destroyed by his arch nemesis Marquez the public can see that his luster was beginning to fade. In fact certain people mainly columnist have done a total about face on Pac’s abilities as if the articles they wrote about the new him have evaporated into thin air. Will the same happen to Mayweather? Perhaps Once decline sets in there is no reversing it. There is no fountain of youth. WIth that being said we return to the two decisions set before our boxing king. Canelo Street? Or Guerrero Alley?
A waltz down Guerrero alley could be very detrimental to Mr. Mayweather. Although in his last two contest Guerrero has been phenomenal seeing that he jumped several weight classes to fight a man no one was rushing to fight in Selcuk Aydin. After that well why not another heavy handed thumper in the form of Andre Berto. Given the circumstances the ghosts performance in each was above average. In the first since he jumped weight classes and returned from a rotator cuff injury just to win the fight was a above average feat. The second seen as a humongous jump in competition was a even more enormous feat as the casual fan would have believed he should not have even been in the ring with Berto.
Both times he proved the naysayer wrong, but to fight Floyd are those two performances enough. Its not that he can’t possibly beat Mayweather its just nobody envisions Mayweather losing to someone of Guerrero’s caliber. This fight will do nothing for Floyds legacy the fight hasn’t even commenced and already we have visions of pull counters, traps being set in which Guerrero stumbles in like a village drunk. Check hooks and any other dainties that Floyd may have created or decided to showcase for this fight. A win for Floyd even a hard fought one is already seen in the eyes of many as a sure thing. Guerrero alley is dangerous.
Canelo Street looks very attractive but so do streets in California’s most gang infested suburbs. A walk down this street could end up pretty bad for Floyd. Once again Canelo is a strong talented motivated fighter eager to get his hands on the King. Canelo wants nothing more then to rip that crown from Floyd’s head forcibly with the head still attached it doesn’t really matter. As long as the crown is his. This ambitious young lion from Mexico is a monster behind a poster boy image.
Why you couldn’t dream of a better visage to feed to mainstream America. With that tiger grin and inferno hair, handsome face he is made for the camera’s. In truth though his opponents will tell you different they know of the Mr. Hyde. Unfortunately to the casual fan all they will see is the water gushing from behind his ears. Enough to fill the grand canyon to be exact. Some bad matchups and some match-ups that just should not have taken place period. In order for credit to be given here Mayweather will have to take a battering and still win convincingly for us to crown him. To play with this fire could be career suicide. If no blood is split however Mayweather’s legacy will get no boost. To point out the obvious of Canelo’s youth in the ring will not win anymore supporters. What is a king to do? What a king always does follow his own agenda. Mayweather will probably enter the ring with both these men some point this year in order to make it to the second he must survive the first. This in and of itself is legacy aid.
Tommorow is not promised but here Mayweather has already set two dates supreme confidence and fight hype. (no pun intended) He has already told us what to expect two more notches added to his already star studded belt. Albeit the stars on his belt do not outshine his own. There in lies the problem in order for these fights to be taken seriously one of these streets has to be moved to a private community. They must rise to the status of half immortal. Thats why the Pacquiao fight will follow Mayweather till he finds such a man and conquers him. Hold on this just in there is such a man a third option, he hails from Argentina and is known as the Marvelous one a name adopted in honor of that awesome American champ Hagler.
His nom Sergio Martinez although he is a middle weight and Mayweather a small Jr middleweight it is known that Maravilla can still make the weight. This sage entered the game late but has made his presence felt through constant hard fought engagements won in spectacular fashion. In order for Floyds legacy to shine in all its glory he must avoid Canelo Street for now and not play dice on Guerrero alley but march right into the Marvelous Church of Martinez and give his most stirring sermon to date. His ‘I have a dream’ speech in the ring if you will. Because once he reaches the moutain top he will be able to see clearly the bright future of the sport and know in his heart that he won’t be going with these young fighters in the ring but at least he cast his eyes on the Zion of boxing.
Thanks to the furor that he and Pacquiao caused the arguments the bickering they have grabbed by force the attention of the casual fan. People always want to know what others are fighting over,or for so they can weigh in and, once they have weighed in they now have interest in seeing it through. So the lasting legacy of Mayweather and ultimately Pacquiao whose name is intertwined with Floyd’s just as Hector and Achilles names go together will be the rebirth by fire of the ancient sport drawn on reliefs thousands of years ages that sport is Boxing. Manny sacrificed his body for the sport just as Hector sacrificed himself for Troy(although is was Achilles that did the deed) now its Floyd’s turn all shall watch to see if the mightiest will be felled by a arrow to the heel or will he re write the story and finish as no other has atop the mountain passing the staff too who? That question is for another article all together.
At the end of the day that scenario has a higher probability of not happening its more likely he will get drunk in Guerrero alley and try to make his way home through the thugs on Canelo street. While missing the salvation that is issuing forth from the Marvelous Church of Martinez.
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