Ranking the Best Potential Opponents for a Floyd Mayweather Comeback Fight

He hasn’t even been retired for a year, and Floyd Mayweather is already hinting at a comeback.

It’s not unexpected. Pretty much no one in boxing believed Mayweather, who was 38 at the time, when he announced his last fight would be against Andre Berto last year. After Mayweather dominated Berto as expected, he stuck to the script and maintained we would never see him fight again.

But prizefighters don’t usually walk away from the sport while they still have as much earning potential as Mayweather, so let’s have a look at the best possible opponents for Mayweather should he decide to go for 50-0.

Conspicuously Absent

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In his interview with Showtime's Jim Gray on Saturday, Mayweather pretty much ruled out the possibility of facing middleweight Gennady Golovkin or welterweight Keith Thurman. Either man would present an interesting challenge to Mayweather. Both are hard-hitters with excellent boxing skill and, like Mayweather, neither has yet tasted defeat.

But Mayweather considers Golovkin too large to fight, and there is some truth to that. Mayweather is certainly not a middleweight, though there are plenty of historical precedences in the sport of great fighters seeking bouts against fighters much bigger. Mayweather just isn’t the type for it.

Thurman, on the other hand, makes a ton of sense from several different perspectives. Both are managed by Al Haymon. Both, of course, are welterweights. Both are undefeated. But Mayweather, for whatever reason, just doesn’t seem that interested in fighting him.

Either would be a great opponent for Mayweather to consider.

5. Errol Spence

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If you watched 26-year-old Errol Spence dismantle Chris Algieri in just five rounds last month, you’ve seen just how good Spence might be. Algieri is no bum, but Spence made the good and tough boxer look like an amateur in comparison.

Spence has the amateur background and physical attributes to give Mayweather problems, and while it’d be a shocker if it was announced, Mayweather-Spence would be pretty easy to promote. Could the elder Mayweather fend off a young, hungry lion? Could Spence’s aggression get to Mayweather and turn him into an old man in the blink of an eye?

At 20-0, Spence appears to be the heir apparent to Mayweather's supremacy at welterweight. What better way to ensure it than by seizing the mantle directly?

4. Kell Brook

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The only welterweight title Mayweather didn’t retire with last year was Kell Brook’s IBF belt. Brook, 30, is young, gifted, unbeaten and in his prime. Where Spence might be just heading into his best years, Brook is conceivably there.

And let’s face it, Brook has earned the fight, more or less. He holds an alphabet title and has shown serious moxie as a fighter by winning his belt in the U.S. against Shawn Porter, a very good fighter, instead of his native UK.

Mayweather-Brook would have huge international appeal, and Brook’s combination of speed, power and boxing ability would present him with a look he hasn’t seen in years.

Besides, Mayweather fighting across the pond, a possibility for Mayweather-Brook, would be something new for him (and us) at a minimum.

3. Winner of Canelo-Khan

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Mayweather could want fight No. 50 to have some historical significance. Nothing would be better in that regard than seeing him capture the lineal middleweight championship. Like it or not, the winner of Canelo Alvarez vs. Amir Khan on Saturday will carry that mantle, and Mayweather matches up well with both fighters.

He’s already beaten Alvarez, but the 25-year-old Mexican has greatly improved since 2013. And if Khan, 29, shocks Canelo with an upset, he will have shown he truly is as good a fighter as he thinks he is. Besides, Khan’s speed might just give Mayweather fits anyway.

Mayweather would likely be favored over both, but either man coming in off a huge win over the other would be dangerous, and thus promotable, competition.

2. Erislandy Lara

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The most dangerous fight that Mayweather might consider reasonable (meaning at 154 or below) would probably be Erislandy Lara. The Cuban southpaw has a longer reach than Mayweather and fights in a way that might make Mayweather become the stalker instead of the boxer.

When's the last time we saw that?

Lara’s style doesn’t win him a lot of fans. But he carries enough power and boxes expertly enough from a distance to potentially give Mayweather trouble over 12 rounds of highly technical boxing. Besides, since when does Mayweather choose opponents based on popularity?

Mayweather-Lara would earn Mayweather an alphabet title at 154 and confirm his fans' viewpoint that their fighter has consistently taken on the best challenges.

1. Manny Pacquiao

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No potential fight would make more sense for Mayweather, or more money for that matter, than a rematch with Manny Pacquiao.

Yes, I realize we’ve already seen this fight.

Yes, I know it was mostly a snoozer.

Yes, I am aware Pacquiao is also supposedly retired.

But Mayweather-Pacquiao 2 is the most likely scenario for a Mayweather comeback. Despite the letdown the first fight turned out to be, Pacquiao’s shoulder injury going into the fight and the aggravation of said injury during Round 4—a round in which Pacquiao did his best work of the fight—would make the promotion easy enough.

And who knows? Mayweather-Pacquiao 2 could be fought in the Philippines. What better way to affirm superiority over a rival than beating him again right in front of his home crowd?