If No Pacquiao, Who Will Floyd Mayweather Face at MGM Grand on May 5?

With a very slim chance of having a Pacquiao vs. Mayweather fight on May 5 after promoter Bob Arum told the media that Pacquiao may not be ready to fight in May due to the injury he suffered during his fight with Juan Manuel Marquez last Nov. 12, the unbeaten American seems destined to face either Saul Alvarez or Robert Guerrero for his MGM Grand fight date.

It must be emphasized that the "Cinco de Mayo" reservation at the MGM Grand was tailor-made for a Mexican opponent, as it coincides with the Mexican independence day celebrations. Seemingly, the fight reservation was not intended for a Pacquiao vs. Mayweather fight from the start.

Also, it would seem Pacquiao was just used to hype the May 5 fight of Mayweather for the much needed awareness among fight fans in order to generate more pay-per-view (PPV) buys. Boxing fans observe it was another genius promotional gimmick that worked well for Mayweather's next fight.

Mayweather's reputation as king of PPV has been tarnished with the reported low numbers (1.2M) he got during his last fight with Victor Ortiz. 

Unofficial reports indicate that the Pacquiao-Marquez trilogy got more PPV hits (1.4M) than the Mayweather-Ortiz fight, which were both staged last year.

Mayweather has just been granted by a Nevada Court an extension until June 1 to turn himself in to serve his 87-day prison term stemming from his assault on his former girlfriend Josie Harris in 2010, which was originally set last January 6.

Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero (29-1-1, 18 KOs) is a Mexican-American boxer, who is the former IBF Super Featherweight champion and a former two-time IBF featherweight champion of the world and may well be Mayweather's next opponent.

On July 31, 2010, Guerrero moved up to the junior welterweight division and faced Cuban fighter Joel Casamayor on the undercard of the Marquez vs. Diaz pay-per-view at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Guerrero defeated Casamayor by a 10-round unanimous decision.

After trashing Casamayor, Guerrero went on to win two successive fights, the last of which was against Michael Katsidis, which he also won via a unanimous decision.

Guerrero, who stands 5'8" and a southpaw, is now on his 13th winning streak since losing to Gamaliel Diaz in 2006.

Another possible Mexican contender is WBC Super Welterweight Champion Saul Alvarez, who is also being promoted by Golden Boy Promotions.

Alvarez (39-0-1, 29 KOs) is only 21, stands 5'9" and is an orthodox boxer. He is the current WBC Light Middleweight champion.

The unbeaten Mexican is fresh from his victory over Kirmit Cintron via TKO last November in Monumental Plaza de Toros, Mexico City

Alvarez is set to fight in April, but his opponent has not yet been named. A clash with Mayweather in May is not remote for the young Mexican boxing star.

If for whatever reason the fight with these two challengers can't be made, Mayweather can try choosing from the Pacquiao-shortlisted opponents, which include Tim Bradley, Lamont Peterson and Miguel Cotto.

But none of them are Mexicans or of Mexican descent, and it would defeat the purpose for which the "Cinco de Mayo" date was reserved by the Mayweather camp.