By Allan Fox: Floyd Mayweather Jr. posted a video of him working out in his gym this week in what could be him preparing for a comeback of sorts. Mayweather (50-0, 27 KOs) has talked of wanting to mix it up with Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The hard work that Mayweather is putting in at his gym in Las Vegas seems to suggest that he’ll be returning to the ring soon against potentially one of these to. There’s also a lot of speculation about the 43-year-old Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao fighting a rematch.
That’s a little harder to believe, considering that Pacquiao, 41, is still fighting at a very high level against top professionals in boxing. In contrast, Mayweather hasn’t fought a pro fighter in five years since his win over a shot Andre Berto in September 2015.
Fighting on pay-per-view a bad idea
The future Hall of Famer Mayweather could have a difficult time getting boxing and MMA fan to want to order one of his expensive pay-per-view events against the likes of McGregor, Khabib, or another fighter from that sport. Fans don’t mind watching Mayweather beat up on guys that don’t come from a boxing background, but it’s not a good time for them to be socked with a $100 bill for ordering the fights on pay-per-view.
When the economy rebounds in the future after the world pandemic, then it would be a good time for Mayweather can sell his “fights” against non-boxers. But for the time being, he would be better off taking it easy until things clear up.
Fans wouldn’t mind seeing Mayweather take on Khabib or McGregor if he fought them in their sport in the octagon. But for Mayweather to be fighting non-boxers in boxing events, it’s not sporting. It’s the equivalent of Mayweather picking out a professional bowler and fighting him in a boxing event. There would be no suspense about the outcome.
It would be great if Mayweather gave the boxing world a fight that they want to see between him and Pacquiao, Canelo Alvarez, Errol Spence Jr., or Terence Crawford.
Mayweather needs to fight a boxer
The 43-year-old Mayweather would attract a lot of interest in a fight against any of those four fighters since he would likely be the underdog. It’s not that Mayweather wouldn’t have beaten those guys in his prime. But at this point in Mayweather’s life, he would struggle against those type of fighters.
Mayweather’s last three professional fights against Berto, McGregor, and Pacquiao failed to entertain. They were all very disappointing to watch due to the lack of action. Mayweather didn’t take any chances against any of those fighters, and he fought like he was in a sparring session.
The fact that millions of boxing fans still purchased those fights is a compliment to Mayweather’s ability to hype his contests with his outside of the ring trash talk.
The last entertaining fight that Mayweather took part in was his rematch with Marcos Maidana in September 2014. Although the match wasn’t as fun to watch as the first fight between him and Maidana in May of 2014, it was still world’s better than what we’ve seen of him since 2015.