Floyd Mayweather Jr Next Fight: Pacquiao After Maidana?
After upsetting Argentina's Marcos Maidana on Saturday, the still-undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. is now faced with the challenge of fighting Filipino boxing champ Manny Pacquiao. But the the biggest question is: Will he finally agree to a match vs Pacquaio?
According to Sporting News, Mayweather's next fight will be in May next year and big names like Pacquiao and Amir Khan are among Mayweather's possible opponents. But the British fighter, according to many, will not be able to match Mayweather's skill on the ring based from his recent fights.
And the talk is again geared on Pacquiao, whose camp already expressed intention of ironing things with Mayweather, even agreeing to undergo a drug test, an earlier demand by the American boxer.
Sporting News said that if the fight pushes through next year, the match will be about Pacquiao's aggressive side versus the defense strategy of Mayweather.
Mayweather's plans
After his fight against Maidana, Mayweather cleared that he is not "ducking or dodging no opponent."
"If a Pacquiao fight presents itself, let's make it happen. We don't know what the future holds for Floyd Mayweather. What's realistic is I am 47-0. As of right now I want to enjoy my time off. We don't know who we going to be fighting," he added, as quoted by Sporting News.
Mayweather also explained that he his not in a rush and that he will take his time to determine what his game plan for his next fights would be.
Earlier, Top Rank CEO, Bob Arum, said there would be no more problem between HBO and Showtime, the networks which are currently airing the fights of the two boxers. Arum said the networks are ready to agree on the pay-per-view coverage.
But the decision will still be up to Mayweather himself who has not yet engaged in serious negotiations with Team Pacquiao. And as for the Filipino fighter, he also needs to prove that he is a worthy opponent for Mayweather by winning his slated fight against Chris Algieri next month.
If the Pacquiao-Mayweather matchup does not happen in May, another opponent in the lineup to go against Mayweather is Miguel Cotto.
An SB Nation report, said that Cotto is being eyed to fight Mayweather because of the former's perseverance to bounce back from losses in the past. The report noted that the Puerto Rican boxer defeated Delvin Rodriguez and seriously beat Sergio Martinez.
All these possible opponents have various appeals on Mayweather who would most probably pick an opponent who has a big following and can increase ticket and pay-per-view sales.
If that would be the case, Mayweather should seriously consider fighting Pacquiao as the whole world has been waiting for that to happen, but many already doubt that it will still materialize as both fighters have expressed their plan to retire in the coming years.