Floyd Mayweather and the Pound-for-Pound Decision
Floyd Mayweather has been a hot selling commodity since his victory over Oscar De La Hoya. His fans and finances grew in size, but so did his critics.
Mayweather's competition has been criticized for his seemingly lack of challenge. What many may not see is that Mayweather has set a criteria with his last three opponents for what he is willing to face.
His last three opponents since facing De La Hoya have all had three things in common.
Common Qualities of Mayweather's Last Three Opponents
1. They have all been in the top-ten pound-for-pound list at the time that Mayweather fought them.
2. They are all future Hall of Famers.
3. They all fought within two weight classes from Mayweather.
From Ricky Hatton to Juan Manuel Marquez and Shane Mosley, all of them fit this criteria. Based on this criteria, I developed a list of five more opponents Mayweather could return to face.
Manny Pacquiao (Welterweight Champion)
1 of 5
Manny Pacquiao is the most requested fight out there for Mayweather. The two have dominated nearly the same exact opposition. The only problem between the two negotiating are the egos at stake.
Both men are at constant conflict with each other, be it their share of the money, how much drug testing should be conducted or even who has the better legacy.
Mayweather won't be able to retire in peace unless he defeats Pacquiao, but will it and can it happen? The boxing public will have to wait and see.
Sergio Martinez (Middleweight Champion)
2 of 5
Ring Magazine currently rates Sergio Martinez as the No. 3 pound-for-pound fighter in the world right under Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Sergio Martinez competes at middleweight (160 lbs). That's two weight classes above Mayweather who competes at 147. If he wants to stop the critics from complaining about him bringing Juan Manuel Marquez up two weight classes to fight himself, he should try to same feat with a skilled veteran warrior like Martinez.
Martinez technically though, isn't a veteran. He started boxing at age 20; that's late in the world of boxing. He won his first world title in 2008 in the 154-pound division. He came into the spotlight in 2009 with two incredible performances that were robbed from the win column for Sergio Martinez.
He fought Kermit Cintron in a fight where he easily outboxed and knocked down Cintron, but Cintron still fought his way to a draw according to the judges' blind eyes.
He then fought Paul Williams in a classic brawl that ended with Williams winning a unanimous decision, despite landing less damaging shots than Martinez.
In 2010, Martinez got his revenge and set the boxing world on fire. He moved up to 160 to defeat and outclass the Ring champion at that weight class, Kelly Pavlik.
Next was the rematch of the century against Paul Williams. Sergio Martinez blew him out in two rounds. The judges took a break in this fight, Martinez won via second round KO, winning "Knockout of the Year" and "Fighter of the Year" in the same instance.
While this sounds like a solid fighter, does this sound like a future Hall of Famer?
That is the only qualification Martinez is missing. He just doesn't have Hall of Fame written on his forehead just yet, but he still has time.
If Mayweather's going to risk his neck to fight someone as big, fast and powerful as Martinez, even if he fights him at 154 or even brings him down to his weight class of 147 to make up for the size advantage and the fact that Mayweather hasn't been in the ring in a while, he wants that fighter to be a great addition to his list of victims.
Mayweather has been adding great names to his list so his opposition begins to sound more like a "Who's Who" than just another list of defeated foes. If Martinez goes on to do nothing else with his career after facing Mayweather, then the history books will rightfully forget Martinez, and Mayweather will have wasted his time.
Timothy Bradley/Amir Khan (Junior Welterweight Champions)
3 of 5
The junior welterweight (140 lbs.) is considered the most talent-rich division in boxing at this time.
Timothy Bradley and Amir Khan are considered the divisions two most talented students ahead of everyone else in the class.
Timothy Bradley is rated No. 9 on the pound-for-pound list. Amir Khan isn't on there yet, but the two fighters are currently negotiating pretty well for a fight on July 23rd, 2011 that Khan could win. If Khan does, he surely makes his debut in the top 10.
If Bradley wins though, he'll likely just move even higher up the pound-for-pound list, making his claim to be the best option for Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather a possible truth.
Again, the same as with Sergio Martinez, Timothy Bradley and Amir Khan have not yet accomplished a legend's worth of fights to gauge where they honestly will end up as pound-for-pound fighters.
Bradley is a bit of a conqueror. He's defeated Lamont Peterson, Luis Abregu and Devon Alexander—three previously undefeated fighters in a row. That is quite a nice beginning to a legendary legacy, but only time will tell if it will become a legendary legacy.
Amir Khan has trumped the likes of Marco Antonio Barrera, Paulie Malignaggi and Marcos Maidana, but his resume is still missing a few signature fights. (Though the fight vs. Maidana is a great start.)
It's possible the winner of this clash may go on to take out two big welterweights like Andre Berto and Mike Jones before taking on Mayweather.
That would give some assurance that the fighters have the ability to be Hall of Famers, making them worthy of the "Who's Who" Mayweather wants his list of final opponents to be.
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Miguel Cotto (Junior-Middleweight Champion)
4 of 5
He isn't rated on the Ring Magazine pound-for-pound top-10 list yet, but he will be come the end of February 2011. Miguel Cotto was rated No. 11 by Ring Magazine at the end of the year list of the top 100 fighters as 2010 came to a close.
Nonito Donaire, a current Bantamweight (118 lb) world champion rated No. 5 on the pound-for-pound list, just knocked out fellow No. 7 pound-for-pound fighter and No.1 rated Bantamweight, Fernando Montiel in the second round.
That knockout will surely lead to Montiel's exit from the list, thereby promoting Cotto's return to the top 10 pound-for-pound where he belongs.
There was a time when Miguel Cotto was undefeated and being hyped to fight Floyd Mayweather at the end of 2007.
Mayweather had just defeated Hatton that December. Cotto had defeated Mosley that November. 2008 was starting up, but Mayweather insisted he was retired. Cotto instead went on to be defeated by the illegal plaster of Antonio Margarito.
Miguel Cotto is still a top elite opponent. He's only other defeat has been against Manny Pacquiao, considered the best pound-for-pound in boxing. Since Pacquiao has been beating up on Mayweather's opposition, maybe Mayweather could start defeating Pacquiao's as well.
Just as fighting Mosley answered the question of an old rivalry, fighting Cotto could do the same. Many still question who would have won between the two. Cotto currently is set to fight old veteran Mayorga in March and then trump Antonio Margarito (preferably without his plaster) by June or July of 2011.
Should Cotto be victorious, he will have avenged his first loss and likely retrieved his confidence to the point that a fight between him and Mayweather will have meaning again. There's just one question left.
Is Miguel Cotto a future Hall of Famer?
Some say he's still on the cusp of greatness and has yet to actually achieve it, but Cotto has been a Hallmark of this generation's elite professional boxing. As long as Cotto continues to deliver the goods, even in defeat, he'll have a place in the Hall of Fame reserved for his name.
Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and the Pound-for-Pound Tournament?
5 of 5
Manny Pacquiao is aiming to take out Shane Mosley on May 7th.
Marquez is rated No. 4 on the pound-for-pound list. In order for Mayweather to prove himself worthy of keeping his own No. 2 ranking, he will need a high profile fight.
Last year, Mayweather upstaged Pacquiao by choosing an unexpectedly challenging opponent in Shane Mosley, the No. 3 ranked pound-for-pound fighter at the time.
This year, I expect Mayweather to do the same by choosing No. 3 pound-for-pound ranked Sergio Martinez. The fight would be considered a shock and quell any concerns that Mayweather is ducking ANY future opponents. Who Mayweather will actually choose, no one knows, but we will all be waiting for the answer.
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