First things first, I will take my credit as for calling the Sosa vs. Uicab fight correctly. Boy was it a war. Each fighter survived a knockdown, with Sosa going on a claiming victory. Toddyrock’s Boxing Picks jumps to 2-1!
Creeping up is the Mayweather vs. Cotto fight. I am calling for a Mayweather win and will give a much more detailed explanation as to why when the fight inches closer. This article is about possible opponents for Floyd’s second fight of the year which should happen late November or early December. Guess what? It will not be Manny Paquaio so let’s get that out of the way. The reason why I am bring it up now is because certain fighters that want to place themselves in the sweepstakes need to start making choices on fighters and dates to align themselves up for a possible bout in late November or early December.
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez – If Mayweather decides to stay at middleweight and defend the title I predict he will win then Canelo becomes an obvious choice. Canelo would have to defend his WBC strap against fading star Shane Mosley on the undercard of Mayweather/ Cotto. If he accomplishes this, he would be 40-0-1 with 4 title defenses. He has clearly not faced the toughest challenges, but he is also only 21 years of age with limited amateur experience. Canelo’s resume may not be the best, but outside of Manny and Cotto there is no one that would bring more money to Floyd’s pocket and we know Floyd likes money in his pocket. This would be a unification bout and I am sure that adds incentive for Floyd to accept Canelo’s challenge. Canelo has no bouts scheduled after the Mosley fight, so he would fully available to fight on any date. 8/10 chance of fighting Mayweather.
Sergio Martinez – Another bout Mayweather can choose if he decides to stay at junior middleweight would be middleweight kingpin Sergio Martinez. This bout would also have the slight chance of taking place at 160. Martinez Martinez
Andre Berto – This bout would take place at Welterweight. Berto currently has no belt as he choose to vacate his IBF belt in favor of trying to avenge his only defeat. I dig that! Berto is coming off a bicep injury that has delayed his rematch against Victor Ortiz. In their first bout it was Ortiz who captured the win and went on to the biggest payday of his career against Mayweather. If that was Berto on the winning end, would it have been him? Well, we may be able to find out if Berto is able to redeem his loss to Ortiz. Berto was once HBO’s golden child as he always had a date to fight on against subpar competition at times. After the Ortiz loss Berto jumped back into it against a very credible opponent in Jan Zaveck in which he stopped in the 5th round due to cuts. A Berto victory over Ortiz would put him in very good position of fighting Mayweather. Both fighters are managed by Al Haymon which would make negotiations easy. 6/10 chance of fighting Mayweather.
Amir Khan – Amir has unfinished business against Lamont Peterson in which he lost a controversial decision. What Amir has going for him if he were to avenge his lost is name recognition. Amir is already a big draw and brings in a lot of money overseas. Amir is also promoted by Golden Boy who represents Mayweather during certain negotiations. Khan also has said he was moving up to welterweight win, lose, or draw. Khan has a tall task in redeeming himself in impressive fashion if he wants to throw his name in the Mayweather mixture. Khan has no obligations after the Peterson fight so a Mayweather match is certainly a possibility. It is a possibility that Khan can control with an impressive victory against Peterson. 5/10 chance of fighting Mayweather.
Lamont Peterson – If Lamont can repeat his victory over Amir Khan in even more impressive fashion, he will get his name in the mix. By taking the Khan rematch, he allows himself the opportunity to negotiate his own terms. Peterson gained a lot of name recognition in the victory, but will need another victory under the Vegas lights to garner the attention needed when it comes to fighting Mayweather. Peterson would also have to move north to welterweight, a decision he has never discussed doing. Money talks though. The reasons why he would stay at junior welterweight; are there are plenty of big fights he can take at 140 especially if he feels comfortable there. 3/10 chance of fighting Mayweather.
*Anyone else that would be a future candidate to fight Floyd would be 2 fights away.
*The curveball to this all is whether Floyd honrs his word about fighting a couple lesser opponents as “tune-ups” or “voluntaries”.
-Pacman's Futures Coming Soon...
Follow me on Twitter @Toddyrock
No comments:
Post a Comment