Sunday, January 17, 2010

Schaefer: Mayweather to name opponent in the next two or three days – News

Schaefer: Mayweather to name opponent in the next two or three days – News Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer says that Floyd Mayweather Jr. is within two or three days of announcing his next opponent. Schaefer says that it will be a big fight, although he doesn’t say who the opponent will be. Former lightweight champion Nate Campbell, former International Boxing Federation light welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi and Kermit Cintron have been three names that have been mentioned as potential opponent for Mayweather.






It’s unclear whether Mayweather will be fighting one of those opponents. If so, the fight might not be as big as Schaefer thinks it will be, because those fighters aren’t big stars and Mayweather would dwarf them with his fame. It would be a case of Mayweather facing a fighter much less known and arguably way over-matched. Cintron would be the best of that bunch, only because of his power and size.



However, Cintron was destroyed in 2008 by Antonio Margarito in a 6th round stoppage, and he also had huge problems against Sergio Martinez last year in a fight in which Cintron was dropped by a left hand from Martinez and argued successfully after that it was caused by a head butt.



Instant replays showed that Cintron was knocked down by a left hand from Martinez. Cintron was able to salvage a 12 round majority draw in the fight, but many boxing fans felt that Cintron should have been counted out after the knockdown. Cintron isn’t on anyone’s pound-for-pound top 10 list and hasn’t looked good all that good in recent years.



Campbell and Malignaggi aren’t interesting options because of their small size. Boxing fans want to see Mayweather against someone in his own weight class or slightly bigger. Campbell only recently moved up from lightweight late last year, and didn’t impress in his fight against Timothy Bradley. Malignaggi has lost two out of his last four fights and would have no chance against Mayweather.



The opponent that boxing fans want to see Mayweather fight is former welterweight champion Paul Williams. That would be a dream fight for boxing fans. However, few people believe that Mayweather will opt to fight a dangerous fighter like the 6’1” Williams, because he might even be tougher match for Mayweather than the 5’6” Manny Pacquiao because of Williams’ size and his nonstop punching style.



Fans were also hoping that Mayweather would fight the winner of the January 30th bout between welterweight champions Andre Berto and Shane Mosley. However, with Mayweather set to make an announcement of his next opponent in the next two to three days, it would seem highly unlikely that Mayweather will be picking either of those guys to fight.



If Mayweather wants to compete with the Pacquiao vs. Clottey fight, which takes place on the same night (March 13th) that Mayweather is fighting, he’s going to have to fight someone really good and not just another small fighter. Mayweather has beaten Ricky Hatton and Juan Manuel Marquez in his last two fights, and both of them were pooled from the lower weight classes.

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