By Chester Rivers: Who should be Floyd Mayweather Jr opponent for his September fight? After the fallout of his battle with Manny Pacquiao, his next opponent will have to be viewed as a legitimate threat to Mayweather’s undefeated record in order for it to sell. Let’s take a look at some of the candidates and discuss the pros and cons of each.
1 ) Amir Khan- PROS: Khan is considered the inside favorite to land the bout. He will be advertised as tall, as long and as fast as Mayweather with more power. His suspect chin could also anticipate excitement because everyone love knockouts. Mayweather now has a promotional license in the state of New York. The fight could be staged at the Barclay’s Center with a pro Mayweather fan base.The fight could also take place in the UK. where Mayweather is just as popular and the fans are more forgiving. CONS: Khan has not had a significant win in quite some time. It would be hard to sell him as having a legit chance of defeating Mayweather.
2) Gennady Golovkin @154- PROS: Golovkin representatives have stated that he is willing to drop to 154 to face Mayweather. His size and power is a legitimate threat. Mayweather is relinquishing all belts so there will not be any sanctioning bodies involved in the negotiations. Golovkin is one of boxing’s fastest rising stars. CONS: His size is naturally bigger. Haymon and Ellerbe will not be willing to throw Mayweather in with someone who could re-hydrate to 170 pounds. Golovkin is also on the cusp of an HBO deal and Mayweather is signed with Showtime. Showtime may not be willing to share with HBO again especially if their fighter is set to retire and could be used to launch the HBO fighter to new heights.
3) Danny Garcia- PROS: All this kid do is win. He’s a free swinger and undefeated. For some reason a lot of people would like to see him lose just as much as they would Mayweather. Garcia have victories over Khan, Matthysse and Peterson. He could be advertised as the next big thing after Mayweather retires. CONS: He’s not as popular as he should beat this point in his career. Although he have quality wins, he wasn’t very impressive. No one would take him seriously as a legitimate threat.
4) Miguel Cotto @160- PROS: Cotto is the linear Middleweight champion. Since Mayweather is relinquishing his belts there’s no mandatory opponents he will be forced to fight or any fines he’ll have to pay. Cotto gave Mayweather one of his most competitive matches of his career in June 2012. The added weight could be viewed as an advantage for Cotto. Freddie Roach now trains Cotto and he could claim he saw some flaw when facing Pacquiao that Cotto could take advantage. CONS: Mayweather has already defeated Cotto and many people may not want to see this fight again. Although Cotto is the Middleweight champion many think Golovkin is the true champion of the division and demand Golovkin for Mayweather and no one else.
5) Saul “Canelo” Alvarez @154- PROS- The September fight will be fought around Mexican Independence Day. During their first fight, many thought Alvarez was too inexperienced for Mayweather. Since his first and only loss, Alvarez has had several impressive victories over the likes of Alfredo Angulo and Erislandy Lara. The fight could be billed as a more experienced Canelo against an aging Mayweather. Canelo could admit he wasn’t ready the first time because the moment was too big for his experience.CONS: Canelo is now signed with HBO. Many fans may remember the first fight where Canelo was blasted by Mayweather and was on the verge on quitting.
There you have it! 5 potential opponents for Floyd Mayweather in September. Who would you like to see challenge the undefeated boxing star in his last professional fight?
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