Mayweather vs Guerrero: Floyd says he will fight in September; Khan, Garcia and Ortiz named as possible foes
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Floyd Mayweather's next fight could be against Amir Khan, Danny Garcia or a rematch with Victor Ortiz according to Golden Boy's Richard Schaefer. Of course, the possibility of a mega-fight with Canelo Alvarez remains an outside possibilit
After Floyd Mayweather made reasonably easy work of Robert Guerrero last night the same question as after all of Floyd's big wins was raised.
What now?
"Money" has been so dominant in his career -- especially his time at the very top of the sport -- that most fights look like a cakewalk on paper. Guerrero represented the pressure fighting southpaw that was supposed to be the closest thing to Mayweather's kryptonite and he was unable to do much beyond make Floyd slightly uncomfortable from time to time.
Mayweather's two favorite dates to fight are Cinco De Mayo and Mexican Independence Day weekends, two "boxing holidays" of sorts. You have to go back to December of 2007 for a Mayweather fight that didn't take place on one of those weekends.
While Floyd said after the fight that he had hurt his right hand, he later said that it wouldn't keep him out of his planned September date. Floyd said "I take my hat off to Robert Guerrero. He's a true warrior. I do plan to fight again in September. I will fight September."
The problem is, Golden Boy Promotions already promised the September 14 main event to Canelo Alvarez. So one of their top stars may come out of this situation a little bit upset unless the mega-fight can be made or Canelo can be paid enough to drop back to the co-main event slot.
While most fans want to see Canelo against Mayweather as it makes a ton of sense from a business and competition perspective, it doesn't seem to be a top priority for Floyd, who has seemed annoyed that the Alvarez camp has felt that they have power at the negotiating table.
He blew off the idea of a Canelo fight when Jim Grey asked about it in the ring after the fight. Simply suggesting that they'd talk about who they wanted to fight next and figure it out.
Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer suggested a list of possible names after the fight, none of which were Canelo. " As reported by Boxing Scene:
"This is a well [stacked] division and we have some names moving up from 140 as well. Let's say Amir Khan, who was ringside, would move up on December 7th and fight the winner of Lee Purdy and Devon Alexander, and becomes the welterweight champion. I could see something like that. I could see. Danny Garcia, once he has cleaned up the junior welterweight division, he could be a name. We have Victor Ortiz, who is going to fight in September, he feels there is some unfinished business. There are a lot of possibilities," Schaefer said.
Being completely honest, a bout with Amir Khan would be an incredible waste of everyone's time. Khan is a talented but flawed fighter whose career shows very clearly that he would not be able to handle a fighter like Mayweather.
The ship has also sailed on the Ortiz rematch. If they wanted to do that fight, they should have done it immediately after the bizarre ending of the first bout. Ortiz had started to find some success bullying Floyd but was clearly losing the fight before throwing a headbutt and getting knocked out for repeatedly trying to hug Mayweather to make up for it. The fact that he has only fought once since that loss and got stopped on a broken jaw by the much smaller Josesito Lopez, derailing a pay-per-view fight with Canelo Alvarez, suggests that he'd be a pretty tough sell, even with his new Dancing With the Stars "fame."
Ortiz was named as a potential opponent for Guerrero, which would be a great fight and one that makes sense for both men.
Danny Garcia is an extremely talented fighter and that fight might be an interesting match-up, though again it would involve a smaller opponent coming up to take on Floyd. But if these three men are the choices, I'll take Garcia over Ortiz or Khan for sure.
Of course, Canelo remains the best fight for Floyd and Floyd is the best fight for Canelo.
If only that were enough in the boxing game to get a fight done.
