By Trevor Cromwell: The biggest disappointment in the sport of boxing going into 2010 is that we most likely will not see the fight of the century, Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao. Reasons steaming behind the canceled fight are due to Pacquiao’s reluctance to take Olympic-style random blood tests. Leaving many fans, spectators, and even other boxing legends weighing in on what the real reasons behind the cancellation are. Some say Pacquiao is a cheat who won’t take the test because it will furthermore prove he hasn’t been fighting fair. Others say it’s Mayweather’s way of ducking a fight he’s scared to lose. Whatever you choose to believe, no matter what, the fight we’d love to see, we’ll never get the chance to watch. Now the only question that needs answers are, what are the future for these two Hall-of-Famers?
It was thought by of many people that when that Floyd Mayweather came out of retirement to reclaim his throne as the best pound for pound fighter. So how many options does he have to do so? Who can forget in Mayweather’s post fight interview after defeating Marquez where Shane Mosley stormed in and began a war of words with Floyd. That seems to be the most logical choice. Though personally I feel it’s a fight Mayweather would win hands down, because Mosley is far past his prime.
Paul Williams would be a very interesting fight. He is the future of the sport of boxing with one loss. But I don’t think that Williams is experienced enough for Floyd but others may disagree. It would seem highly disappointing to see Mayweather go back into retirement after only one landslide victory. But he doesn’t have many choices.
Paquiao is not in a much different position. He just beat Miguel Cotto and Ricky Hatton in two great fights so he can only fight lesser opponents at this point. Malignaggi keeps popping up as a possible fight but that wouldn’t be as exciting with Pacman easily taking him out. Kelly Pavlik would be interesting and at this point I believe his best option. But with him refusing to take steroids raising eyebrows among fighters, I’m sure him finding another fight won’t be as easy as people believe. If Pacquiao chooses to retire, it would leave a huge void in his career. A void only a fight with Mayweather magnitude would fill. Whatever these two legends decide to do, there are two things that are clear. They will be known as two of the best in history, but they never had the fight of their careers.
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