The King who did not rule … Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
Editorial By Syl Peterkin, RCM Boxing Correspondent
Floyd Mayweather, Jr. the undefeated and slightly disputed P4P champ of boxing. The only fighter who might lay claim to that is Andre Ward (#2 P4P). The fight that most fans have wanted to see is Floyd vs. Manny. Now the claim is that Floyd Mayweather simply won’t fight Manny Pacquiao (#5 p4p) for numerous reasons. First stylistically, Manny’s style of a highly offensive southpaw boxer puncher would create numerous issues for Floyd’s defensive oriented style. Another is the possible fear or possibility of getting knocked out. Even Mike Tyson has stated recently that Pacman has the best shot of beating Mayweather. The question does make some enthusiasts wonder has Floyd been ducking anyone else?
Well, Floyd did a very smart move of fighting and beating Saul Canelo Alveraz several months ago. Why? Well, Canelo was a rising star who did NOT have enough experience under his belt before he fought Mayweather. Floyd smartly fought Canelo sooner rather than later knowing that Canelo would be a serious problem when Canelo became a more seasoned fighter. In fact, most of Floyds opponents are flawed some manner. Mosley, Oscar De La Hoya, Miguel Cotto and Zab Judah were already on their way down. Juan Manuel Marquez was undersized while Carlos Baldomir pulled off two upsets but wasn’t in the same class.
Floyd actually has a history of ducking opponents including Antonio Margarito, Paul Williams, Prince Naseem, Maro Antonio Barrera, and Eric Morales. Floyd has picked an interesting opponent of either Maidana or Khan. So who is Floyd set to fight? Marcos Maidana? Maidana who does have problems with boxers with speed? Amir Khan shouldn’t be in the conversation as he has already been knocked out twice and has 3 defeats (once to a journeyman in less than 1 round). In fact, neither of these fighters are in the top 10 P4P. Why not fight Timothy Bradley (#3 p4p)? Well Tim is most likely too quick and too much energy for Floyds methodical pace. Why not fight Golovkin (#10 p4p)? Well he is way too strong. Even Danny Garcia (#9 p4p), is a better opponent for Floyd. All of them are within Floyd’s weight class and all are better opponents for Floyd. Seriously, why should his next opponent have a 2-2 record in his last 4 fights (Khan)? Well, Khan would be an easy victory that grows his record numerically, but without much in the way of legacy or the fans. Khan though is growing impatient of the waiting game that Mayweather is putting on and is actively seeking alternate fights.
In the past, we did see that Sugar Ray Leonard did in fact duck some fighters and waited for them to grow older when he did fight them (a la Marvin Hagler). In fact, in terms of Hagler, Leonard had retired in 1982, while Hagler was actively seeking a fight with him. In 1983, Leonard announced a comeback only to have Hagler wait for 4 years in 1987 to fight Leonard (and only after Hagler had showed signs of slowing down). This is reminiscent of Pacquiao and Khan trying to land a fight with Mayweather (being delayed for a very long time). Even with this there were only a few opponents though that Leonard ducked including Aaron Pryor. Floyd also isn’t Roy Jones, Jr. who was very popular with fans In fact, RJJ moved up and down numerous weight classes looking for a worthwhile opponent. Manny moved up several weight divisions and dominated all competition for a very long time. Floyd is the pay per view king which was a gift after beating Oscar De La Hoya, but never got the adulation of fans. Floyd is carefully guarding his legacy (undefeated fighter). He does this by hand selecting his opponents which might work for the HOF, but it hasn’t endeared him to many fans who simply find his style to be boring. He fails to see this and subsequently relies on props (the money team, 50 cent beef, and WWE appearances) and personas (playing the bad guy role) in order to bring in the casual fans and contributes to his volatile pay per view numbers.
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