By Mohammad Malik: We have about 11 weeks left until Floyd Mayweather’s next fight on September 13th. With the date approaching fast, Floyd Mayweather Jr. needs to pick an opponent soon in order to give himself enough time to promote the fight.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. has had the luxury of dictating the terms of his fights for many years now, and it is no secret that the fighters are willing to bend over backwards to get a shot at the No.1 Pound for Pound fighter in the world. Not to mention, the biggest pay check of their career.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. is still in the driver’s seat, except, the current situation cannot be exactly to his liking. Let’s take a look at the two main issues possibly halting the announcement of his next fight: the recent parting of Richard Schaefer from Golden Boy Promotions and the lack of viable/quality opponents for his next fight on September 13th.
He has never made a secret about his not so great relationship with Oscar De La Hoya, so it remains to be seen if he will choose to work with Golden Boy Promotions for his next fight. We have already heard some conflicting statements from Floyd Mayweather Jr. and his team regarding the future of their relationship.
Obviously, there are issues that need to be sorted out and it is easy to see that the situation is not ideal for Floyd Mayweather Jr. and his team. There is a lot that we don’t know in regards to the contractual obligations of some of the fighters being represented by Golden Boy Promotions. So, it is quite possible that Floyd and his team may not have a choice but to work with Golden Boy Promotions if he chooses to fight one of their fighters. And that is certainly easier said than done at the moment.
The dearth of viable/quality opponents is certainly not helping the situation. Only fighters you can possibly make an argument for include: Manny Pacquiao, Marcos Maidana, Shawn Porter, Keith Thurman, Amir Khan, Danny Garcia and Miguel Cotto. We already know the fight with Manny Pacquiao is simply not possible at the moment for various reasons. The list of reasons can be quite long, but for the sake of argument, I’ll just mention the reported differences between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Top Rank owner Bob Arum as the main reason, and stop there.
The next fighter on the list of possible opponents is Marcos Maidana. After watching the replay of Marcos Maidana and Floyd Mayweather Jr., it was easy to see that Floyd Mayweather Jr. won the fight quite convincingly. The fight looked a lot closer when I was watching it live, but it was evident the second time that Floyd Mayweather Jr. out boxed Maidana in the last 8 rounds. I think the rematch wouldn’t offer anything new, and more than likely, Floyd Mayweather Jr. would choose to just move and box. Plus, if the rumors are to be true then the fight didn’t live up to the expectations and it is said that the pay per view numbers’ failed to cross the million mark.
Therefore, you can cross Maidana’s name off the list. The next name on the list of possible opponents is Shawn Porter. It was widely reported today that Shawn Porter has signed his contract for his mandatory IBF Welterweight title defense and the fight is expected to take place on September 6th. So, you can cross his name off the list. Same goes for Danny Garcia who will be fighting on August 9th at Barclays Center. It is safe to say that he won’t be back in the ring a month after to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr.
I really like Keith Thurman and I think he is the real deal. He has pretty much dominated whoever was put in front of him, but at the same time, he has yet to fight and beat an elite fighter. Plus, he doesn’t have a big following at the moment and that is a good enough reason for Floyd to not consider him as an opponent for his next fight. So, you can also cross his name off the list. Now that leaves us with two names: Miguel Cotto and Amir Khan. I wouldn’t mind seeing a rematch between Miguel Cotto and Floyd Mayweather Jr., and I have no doubt the fight would do well in terms of par per view buys.
The issue is whether Floyd Mayweather Jr. would want to fight at 154 and take a risk against a dangerous fighter like Cotto – whom he has already beaten. There are also reports that Bob Arum is interested in matching Cotto against Timothy Bradley later this year. It is also reported that Miguel Cotto is on vacation and plans on making his return in December. With all said, my gut feeling is that Floyd Maweather Jr. will not be fighting Miguel Cotto in September. So, you can cross his name off the list too.
Now that leaves us with one name: Amir Khan. We all know Amir Khan has been asking for a fight with Mayweather Jr. for a while now. He as has a massive following in the U.K and he has fought and beaten some credible fighters in the U.S. To say the least, he certainly makes sense business wise.
They say that styles make fight, and I personally believe that Amir Khan’s style would make the fight interesting. He’s got fast hands, great foot work, and the question marks over his chin would only thicken the plot. The issue is Amir Khan will not return to the ring until November or December of this year. He will be observing Ramadan until late July and wants adequate time to prepare himself for the fight.
I think it only makes sense for Floyd Mayweather Jr. to move the date two months ahead and pick Amir Khan as his next opponent. We are only talking about 2 months here, and it is not like moving two months ahead would take the negotiating power away from Floyd Mayweather Jr. He would still get to dictate the terms of the fight as he is still the bigger name. At the end of the day, it would simply be a business decision and not an ego thing.
Comments are closed.