Whats next for Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather?

By Boxing News - 06/25/2012 - Comments

By M.S — 8-time world champion Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather arguably the greatest defensive boxer of all time, one of the greatest to’ lace em up’ period and future hall of famer is currently serving 90 days in prison for domestic battery.

Mayweather has been placed in solitary confinement allegedly for his own ‘Safety’. Officials say he is causing himself harm by ‘cherry picking’ his food whilst his personal doctor says he does not have enough space within his prison cell to carry on his training regime with his 1 hour outdoor time deemed insufficient. His current calorie intake of 800 is 2000 short of his daily required intake which is going to have a profound effect on his body. In layman’s terms, at the age of 35 Floyd Mayweather is going to come out of prison in the weakest physical condition of his illustrious career.

It’s not all bad news though. Whilst Floyd eats his cookies and each day that goes past is a lesson learnt, another day without the gym as well as his spontaneous 6 mile runs, a number of events outside the confinements of his prison cell have occurred in what he calls his craft, the world of boxing. These events have further solidified his legacy as well as a big fat doze of ‘I told you so’ to his doubters or in his own words ‘haters’.

Firstly, before the mega fight with Miguel Cotto, Mayweather could be constantly heard bragging to the press “I am the highest paid athlete in all of sports”. He did not provide any evidence as to why he was and also the media did not press him on the issue in part due to his persona in the lead up to a big fight. Well its official, he sits atop the Forbes magazine rich list dethroning the long-time no.1 Tiger Woods with the highest income in history for a boxer over a 1 year span with an impressive $84 million. After a Pacquiao defeat to Tim Bradley the boxing world came out in their droves with a vast number of people spamming boxing websites and various forums with following ‘boxing is dead’ as well as the term ‘#R.I.P Boxing’ trending on twitter. Boxing dead? I think not, for everybody who jumped on the bandwagon I have a simple response to your comments. Men Lie, Women Lie, Numbers don’t. Most of the time anyways.
A subject that everybody is Tired of. Debated by just about everybody in the boxing universe from current and ex-professionals to your casual fan; Floyd Mayweather vs. the Philippine sensation Manny Pacquiao. As much as I try to remain impartial, I have to go on record and say disgust doesn’t sum up how I feel about the Judging facade in the Pacquiao and Tim Bradley bout. No matter how much Pacquiao was missing and no matter how many minutes he took of the rounds I had him winning the fight. So much so that I turned off my television before the results were announced (sorry Buffer). Does Mayweather need to fight Pacquiao? Whilst it would be a wonderful fight and it would certainly appease public demand I would have to say no to that question. Why you ask? Well simply put Mayweather has nothing to prove. Like a jigsaw all the pieces of his career have slowly but surely fallen into place. Conventional wisdom has Mayweather not only winning but dominating a fight against a battle worn Pacquiao.

In terms of future potential opponents a name that has been bandied about is Sergio Martinez considered no.3 P4P in the world and the true middleweight champion. I consider him the biggest threat to Mayweather’s 0 but let’s face it as of now he has a small fan base and not enough momentum to make it the fight of the millennium. However he is about to face Chavez Jr this September a man who tested positive for diuretics in 2009 and is still shedding weight and piling it on fight night with ease. Providing Sergio Martinez gets through that bout unscathed and victorious, the potential for a super fight between Floyd and Martinez is there providing Martinez starves himself. Fighting at a catch weight is something Floyd has been highly critical of and even though Martinez says he is a natural 154 pounder I don’t buy it, he would say that to ensure himself a payday that will without question set him for life. What I don’t want to see is Floyd fighting a washed-up bum or unpolished diamond.

Conventional Wisdom has him as the greatest of this era up there with Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali. He is now what they were then. Although sometimes flawed (see Pacquiao vs. Bradley) the Compubox numbers backs this up as in the ring Mayweather has one the best hit and not get hit surplus percentages in its existence epitomizing him as a true professor of the sweet science. Whilst outside the ring Forbes magazine has him as no.1 by a couple tens of millions as the highest-paid athlete not just in boxing but all of sports. When Floyd comes to play certain parts of the world stop and listen, to an extent. So whether it’s another mega fight, Commentary or a genuine retirement whatever’s on the horizon the boxing universe awaits his next move.

Twitter @MusBoxing



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