By Duke Pahulu: Before anything, let me state the three boxing superstars. They are Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto. Let’s start at the top. If history is correct, Floyd will be coming back to the ring on Cinco de Mayo 2013. Contrary to what his Uncle and Trainer Roger Mayweather suggested, they’re only two viable options for Floyd. One is Saul Canelo Alvarez and the other is Robert Guerrero. The sole reason being that both fighters are handled by Golden Boy which has done Floyd’s fights since splitting with Bob Arum several years ago.
Canelo would do big numbers because he’s a bigger star than Guerrero. Guerrero on the other hand is coming off a career win against Andre Berto. Floyd has a history of fighting foes coming off of career wins and Canelo’s last fight doesn’t constitute a big win. But the money Canelo can make Floyd would be hard to resist. And I do believe the winner of Mayweather-Canelo would be for the vacant Ring title at 154 which would be Floyd’s fourth such title in his career. Based on the money and the Ring title at state, I believe Floyd will chose Canelo over Guerrero.
In the case of Manny Pacquiao, Bob Arum wants to put him in against Brandon Rios in April. I believe this is a great matchup for Manny Pacquiao. He won’t have to chase Rios around the ring and we’ll see if he still has the fighting abilities we all were in awe with in his prime. Even if Marquez gets that elusive official victory over Pacquiao next month, Pacquiao should just move on. No matter how you look at the Pacquiao-Marquez rivalry, the one thing that’s certain is that both are equals. No one really wanted a fouth matchup so no one wants to see a fifth go around.
Miguel Cotto is in a unique position in that he’s a free agent who can fight anyone he wants. He chose to fight Austin Trout for a title belt at 154 over a rematch against Manny Pacquiao. If he beats Trout, Cotto can throw his hat into a Canelo fight that can force Floyd to fight Guerrero. Cotto can try once again at a Pacquiao rematch. I doubt Cotto wants to fight on regular programming twice in a row so he’ll be going after big fish. I believe Canelo is a bad matchup for Cotto.
Canelo has the ability to walk him down like Margarito in 2008. Floyd won’t take an immediate rematch with Cotto unless he looks spectacular against Trout. Trout is the type of fighter you cannot look good against. And I believe Manny Pacquiao will not agree to take on Cotto at 154 even though Pacquiao doesn’t have a title at 147. One longshot for Cotto is Tim Bradley. Bob Arum is treating Bradley like a red headed stepchild for beating his cash cow and would try to cash out with a Cotto fight if it comes to the table. If you can’t get Pacquiao, get the one who beat him. And I believe Bradley wouldn’t mind jumping to 154 for a big fight against Cotto.
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