By Rocky Esposito: Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. is currently (46-0 / 26 KOs). He started his professional career all the way back in 1996. Since then, he has won World Titles in 5 different weight classes. He has a career record of (23-0 / 10 KOs) in World Title Fights. He also has a career record of (21-0 / 7KOs) against former or current World Champions. Currently, in the 19th year of his professional career, he holds 6 Championship Belts: 3 Championship Belts at Welterweight (147lbs.) and 3 more at Light Middleweight (154lbs.).
On paper, with those career statistics, it would seem there is nothing else left for Floyd Mayweather Jr. to achieve in his Boxing career, right? If he hung up the gloves tomorrow, it would seem that he left the sport on top. *However, many Boxing fans (the world over) would quickly point out that he never fought the one man that they all really wanted him to fight, the current WBO Welterweight Champion of the World Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao (56-5-2 / 38KOs).
Who in his own right, also has had a tremendous Boxing career, winning World Titles in 8 different weight classes. And, Pacquiao just defeated Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley (31-1 / 12 KOs) for the WBO Welterweight Title. Bradley was a fighter coming into their rematch who happened to be on many people’s Top 3 to 5 ”Pound for Pound” list. (I respectively say Bradley was not on my Top Pound for Pound list because I believe he lost the first fight to Pacquiao. I also thought he lost his very next fight to Ruslan Provodnikov by 1 point). Still, Timothy Bradley is a very gifted fighter and was a solid win for Pacquiao.
I do not mean to be pessimistic, but since I personally believe a Mayweather vs Pacquiao ”Mega Fight” truly won’t ever take place, what else really does Floyd Mayweather have to achieve/prove in his career? *One possibility, maybe, Floyd can wait and see if Miguel Cotto (38-4 / 31KOs) can defeat the current WBC Middleweight Champion of the World Sergio Martinez (51-2-2 / 28KOs). If Cotto can pull off the upset and become the new WBC Middleweight Champion of the World, maybe Floyd would then seriously sit down with his team and reconsider fighting Miguel in a rematch. However, Floyd’s father and current trainer (Floyd Sr.), along with his uncle and former trainer (Roger) both said in multiple interviews that Floyd Jr. should not move up in weight anymore, 154lbs is enough. I tend to agree. However, if Cotto is the winner, I bet all three may rethink it over.
The only other main reason Floyd will continue his career, even if it cannot really add anything else to his overall legacy? The CBS/Showtime contract. Floyd has nothing else to achieve financially per say, he already is Boxing’s highest earner in the sport’s history. However, there is still a ton of money left of the table. Floyd is making in one single fight what other great ex-champions never accumulated throughout their entire careers. You may find this interesting…. In his last fight versus Maidana, Mayweather came very close to averaging $900,000.00 a minute or $15,000.00 per second! Here are the exact numbers based on Floyd’s guaranteed $32 Million for the fight: ($32,000,000.00 Guaranteed ÷ 36 Minutes in a 12 Round Fight = $888,888.889 Per Minute or $14,814.8148 Per Second). Another Interesting Financial Note… Maidana made $1,500,000.00 for the entire fight. Floyd made more then Maidana by the time there was 1 minute and 18 seconds left of Round 1! By that time, Floyd already made $1,511,111.11. *Question, would you retire making that type of money? LOL, and I am not going to break down what Floyd made vs Canelo. Out right astronomical.
I believe Floyd will complete his contract with CBS/Showtime. As I have shown, the money is just too lucrative/astronomical. However, since I firmly believe that Floyd will never fight Manny Pacquiao (regardless of the fans desire for it). The only outside chance of Floyd legitimately adding to his legacy at this point of his career is if Cotto beats Sergio Martinez, then Mayweather fights & defeats Cotto and obtains the WBC Middleweight Title. *Readers may be asking, why doesn’t Floyd just fight Sergio if he wins? Very valid question. However, Sergio is a true Middleweight. Cotto is a natural Welterweight (147lbs.), Light Middleweight (154lbs.) was a jump for Cotto. He is 4-2 at Light Middleweight, but just 1-2 in his last 3 fights there. This is his first fight ever at Middleweight (160lbs.), the actual Catch Weight is 159lbs. If you watched the Cotto vs Martinez Face off on HBO, the Weight Limit was a point of concern from both sides. LOL, A Side and B Side!
I honestly do not know who Floyd who will choose next, maybe a Maidana rematch? However, when PPV HD cost $75, fans rightfully will object any low caliber opponent. Not that Floyd would, because he and his team worry about PPV numbers. But again, who can Floyd fight and it legitimately add to his legacy? Even if he beats a guy like Amir Khan (29-3 / 19KOs), who just fought his first professional fight ever at 147lbs. Fans also have been mentioning Danny “Swift” Garcia (28-0 / 16KOs) whom I like, but he never fought above 140lbs. Besides, I believe Danny really lost his last fight to Mauricio Herrera (20-3), as many Boxing fans do. Danny is walking around saying he won that fight 8-4, that’s just wrong. He needs to clean that up, give Herrera a rematch first.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. has had an amazing career. If he does not fight Pacquiao (which is a 99.9% certainty) and my whole Cotto scenario falls apart, all Floyd really has left to do in his Boxing career is suffer his first Loss. Beating guys like Khan and Garcia at 147lbs would not do anything legitimately to add his legacy. Are the millions worth the risk? We will see. God Bless.
Comments are closed.