By Chris Williams: Whoever gets to face WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr in his next two fights, they’re going to be lucky since Mayweather plans on retiring after he finishes out his contract with Showtime/CBS.
It’s unfortunate but we’re probably not going to see Manny Pacquiao among the names that Mayweather fights in his last two fights of his career. Mayweather’s new strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza says that the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight isn’t going to happen with Bob Arum in the picture, so this rules out Pacquiao as one of the lucky guys that will get the opportunity to face Mayweather before he steps away.
Adding Pacquiao’s scalp to his resume before he retires would be a nice little trophy for Mayweather’s legacy. It would further enhance what he’s already accomplished and put an exclamation point to his career.
If there was any doubts about Mayweather talent before the Pacquiao fight, there would be none once he got a victory over the 35-year-old Filipino star.
Fighting Mayweather is a chance for a fighter to become famous, and whoever he picks out in his last two fights, he’s going to be giving them a real gift.
“I only got two more fights left (after the Maidana rematch) and after the next two fights I just want to build the Mayweather Promotions brand,” Mayweather said via ESPN.com.
It would be nice if Mayweather were to finish out his career against Miguel Cotto and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Those two fighters guarantee Mayweather the biggest chance of getting the most pay-per-view buys right now. There’s no one at welterweight, light welterweight and junior middleweight that will be able to bring in the kind of money that Canelo and Cotto can when they’re matched against Mayweather.
The problem is that if Canelo and Cotto fight each other next year, it’ll eliminate one of them from being available to fight Mayweather, because they’re expected to fight each other at the start of the year.
If Mayweather can’t get Canelo or Cotto then the pickings are going to be slim. Mayweather would then have to pick from a list of the following fighters: Amir Khan, Kell Brook, Devon Alexander, Shawn Porter, Keith Thurman, Erislandy Lara, Demetrius Andrade and Danny Garcia. Of those fighters, Garcia stands out as the No.1 choice due to his unbeaten record and his standing in the 140 pound division. Kell Brook would have to be seen as No.2 on the list.
The thing is Mayweather will need to book the fights with Brook and Garcia sooner rather than later because Pacquiao may grab one of them if he’s able to get past Chris Algieri on November 22nd.
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