Mayweather vs. Cotto: Most Exciting Opponents for Money's Next Bout

Despite hinting at retirement, Floyd Mayweather Jr. will likely be looking for another fight after he is done with his 87-day prison sentence.

Finding a worthy opponent for the undefeated Mayweather is no easy task, but there are a few that would make for a compelling fight.

However, Mayweather wasn't thrilled by the prospects of finding his next opponent. The New York Times' Greg Bishop offered up this quote from Money following his unanimous decision win over Miguel Cotto on Saturday night: 

"

There’s really nobody out there for me to fight anymore. I really can’t say where my career is going to go from here.

"

Bishop went on to add that Floyd set his odds at 80/20 in favoring of retiring. With all due respect to Floyd, I'm not buying that.

This is a fighter that has already retired once. The guy just seems to love the spotlight too much to walk away when he is still clearly an elite fighter. Not too mention, it will be hard for him to turn his back on the $30-plus million he would likely make.

With that in mind, let's take a look at who would be his best option for a future opponent.  

Manny Pacquiao

This one goes without saying, but I'm saying it anyway. This is the fight everyone wants to see. It would feature two of the greatest boxers in history going at it with unique and vastly different styles. 

This bout would likely shatter all earning records for any fight. It would captivate boxing fans all over the world. It would be an absolute blockbuster. 

The problem is this fight seems to be becoming less and less of a realistic possibility. 

In fact, as Bishop reported, Mayweather flat-out said it would never happen. We can still hope that the money these two could earn will be too much for them to pass up. 

Saul Alvarez 

Alvarez fought on Money's undercard on Saturday and he was impressive while dominating Shane Mosley. 

At 21, Alvarez is the youngest champ in boxing. Despite his young age, he has been able to compile an impressive 40-0-1 record since he began fighting as a professional at the tender age of 15. 

This young boxer is already a huge draw and star in his home country of Mexico, and his win over Mosley at the MGM Grand put him on the minds of American boxing fans. 

He is a supremely gifted boxer, with the skills to one day hold the crown as world's best pound-for-pound boxer. 

The problem here is that Alvarez may not be quite ready for this kind of test. Still, it would be hard for him to pass up the opportunity and his talent would make this a compelling fight. 

Timothy Bradley

If Pacquiao and Mayweather aren't going to fight each other, they may as well just keep fighting the same opponents and measure up against each other that way. 

This, of course, is a terrible way to judge a fighter as styles make the fight, but what else are we going to do?

Bradley and Pacquiao are set to fight on June 9th. If Bradley can pull off the unlikely upset, a date with Floyd Mayweather would gain a huge amount of traction, but even if he doesn't, it would still be a decent matchup. 

The 28-year-old Bradley has yet to fight a truly elite boxer, but he is still 29-0 and the WBO light welterweight champion.