Floyd Mayweather Must Challenge Himself After Dominant Win over Marcos Maidana

In this era of boxing, it's hard to put together a fight that truly captivates the attention of casual sports fans and delivers on the hype. Floyd Mayweather's latest triumph, his second over Marcos Maidana in four months, lacked intrigue and excitement. 

We can attribute this to Maidana not being an exciting fighter despite having a powerful punch, but the brunt of the blame belongs on Mayweather. He's the one in charge of who steps in the ring with him and so intent on proving to everyone that his undefeated record means he's one of the best ever. 

However, fighting someone who doesn't even rank in the top four of The Ring's welterweight rankings doesn't do much to boost your street cred. There's even a sense of fatigue among gamblers when it comes to Mayweather, according to David Purdum of ESPN.com.

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The amount wagered on Saturday's fight was down significantly across town. Jay Rood, vice president of race and sports books for MGM, said the rematch attracted less than 50 percent of the betting action that Mayweather's fight with Canelo Alvarez drew in September 2013.

William Hill director of trading Nick Bogdanovich described the betting handle on Mayweather-Maidana II as "horrible." The Wynn, Westgate SuperBook, CG Technology and South Point also said the action was light.

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There was also a great quote from Brian Kenny on the Showtime pay-per-view telecast after Mayweather earned a unanimous decision victory on Saturday, via B/R's Jonathan Snowden, about what the champion's purpose is at this stage of his career:

"Another exhibition of the maddeningly effective Mayweather recipe," Kenny said. "Look, he wins this easy. I had it 10 rounds to two. He moves, he counters, he clinches. Mayweather is not here for excitement. He is here to win."

In sports, the purpose of every athlete is to win. It doesn't matter how it happens, just that it happens. Mayweather has been on the right side of every fight in his career, 47 times. 

However, boxing isn't like other sports. It's dependent on pay-per-view buys to generate revenue for the combatants. Mayweather's got the greatest deal in sports history, earning at least $32 million for this fight.

Yet when you look at buyrates, Mayweather went back to a well that most fans weren't interested in the first time, at least compared to his lofty standards.

According to Amy Parlapiano of Sports Illustrated, the first fight with Maidana was the second Mayweather bout since 2013 that failed to break 1 million buys. 

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The May 3 fight between Floyd Mayweather and Marcos Maidana generated an estimated 900,000 pay per view buys, multiple industry sources told SI.com. The 900,000 buys represent a precipitous drop from the 2.2 million buys Mayweather generated in his fight with Saul Alvarez last September and is comparable to the number of buys Mayweather got in his May, 2013 fight against Robert Guerrero, which also failed to eclipse 1 million. 

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Parlapiano cites a lack of promotion for Mayweather-Maidana as a huge reason for the lack of interest, noting Mayweather went to 11 cities in two countries to promote the bout with Saul Alvarez. 

While Alvarez certainly is a bigger draw and better fighter than Maidana, it brings up the question of why Mayweather would take a step down in competition this year coming off the high that was 2.2 million buys and an impressive win over Canelo. 

The only person who can answer that with 100 percent certainty is Mayweather. All we can do is speculate on who will be the next one trying to end his 47-0 record. 

Based on Money's history, we know that he will announce his next fight in February for the first weekend in May. Floyd Mayweather Sr. told Hit First Boxing, via C.J. Tuttle of Sherdog.com, that the most likely opponent is Amir Khan. 

"More than likely, it won't be (Manny) Pacquiao," Mayweather said. "I would say Amir Khan is No. 1 on the list, but that's still not even permanent. There's still a few other fighters out there. I can't say who's permanent unless they ask for it."

Starting with Pacquiao, his name was only brought up because the younger Mayweather said after defeating Maidana that he would "make it happen" if it presented itself, via The Telegraph. 

Let's squash that nonsense right now. Until Pacquiao and Mayweather are in the ring together and the bell rings to signal the start of their fight, no one should anticipate that fight ever happening. 

Khan, on the other hand, is a realistic opponent and has rebuilt his value with three straight wins over Carlos Molina, Julio Diaz and Luis Collazo following back-to-back losses in 2011-12. Whether you think Khan could beat Mayweather is irrelevant. 

The fact that Mayweather is apparently considering an opponent with real cache in the boxing world is important. He can't afford to take anymore gimmes with his time running out. If you want to prove you are the best fighter ever, you have to go in the ring against the best fighters. 

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