By James Le Blanc IV: It’s been roughly about a month since Floyd Mayweather Jr. committed to fighting May 4th with an opponent to be determined. Among the many athletes that have called out Mayweather and would love to challenge the Pound for Pound King the options for Floyd’s next bout was a relatively small list. The names that have been floating around were Robert Guerrero and Saul Alvarez, and just in the past few days I heard Timothy Bradley.
Bradley seemed very quiet when it came time to make a match with him and Amir Khan happen in late 2011. This frustrated me because Bradley was on ESPN calling Khan out. Next thing you know Bradley lands a match with Manny Pacquiao. So in light of Bradley recently turning down a rematch with Lamont Peterson, and making negotiations between him and Yuriorkis Gamboa extremely complicated, don’t be surprised if he lands that match with Floyd.
The heavy favorite fighter that was expected to land the match with Floyd is Robert Guerrero, who solidified his legitimacy at 147 when he gave Andre Berto the beating of his life. Canelo is the name that will help draw big PPV numbers and maybe even bring enough fans to break the PPV record held by Floyd vs Oscar De La Hoya from 2007. Out of the three names I just mentioned only one is coming off of a significant victory and this is what Floyd’s last 4 opponents have in common.
Miguel Cotto was coming off of three straight TKO victories the last being his rematch with Antonio “the shame of Mexico” Margarito. Victor Ortiz had a war with then undefeated Andre Berto dropping him two times in route to a unanimous decision victory. Shane Mosley was coming off a huge upset win over Margarito knocking him out in the 9th round and Juan Manuel Marquez was coming off of an incredible 9th round TKO upset victory over Juan Diaz. So out of the 3 fighters that are potentially Floyd’s May 4th opponent only one (in my humble opinion) is coming off of dominate performance and that is Guerrero.
Saul Alvarez has yet to fight an opponent that will pose any threat, his latest victory came over Josesito Lopez who had no business fighting at 154lbs. Bradleys last fight was a gifted decision over Manny Pacman which until this day makes me scratch my head. I mean from round two on Bradley had that “Deer in the headlights” look in his eyes and appeared to be trying to survive Manny’s power the entire fight. So according to my theory that Floyd picks the guy that has basically earned the shot I was thinking Robert Guerrero was a sure in…that is until I read Floyd’s tweet earlier today.
“As of right now I don’t know who I’m fighting on May 4th. Me fighting Robert Guerrero is just a rumor.”-Floyd Mayweather.
Maybe I’m reading in to this tweet too much, maybe I’m just another frustrated fan, but it’s hard for me to believe Floyd doesn’t know who he is fighting by now and the fact that he uses Guerrero’s name makes me think Guerrero will NOT be his next opponent. Fans have been waiting a little too long for the announcement of Floyds next fight. It’s not rocket science, either fight the best, or fight the draw…Bradley is not a draw, so that leaves two, Canelo hasn’t proved anything to anybody other than he can continue to avoid top opposition within his own weight class. Only Robert “the Ghost” Guerrero has proved, by jumping two weight classes and dominating two opponents at welterweight that nobody was in a rush to fight, that he earned that fight with Floyd, so if it doesn’t happen I’ll be surprised. Still waiting Floyd….
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