Ellerbe non-commital on Mayweather vs Garcia/Matthysse

By Keith Idec

One obvious incentive for featuring the Danny Garcia-Lucas Matthysse fight on the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Canelo Alvarez pay-per-view undercard is to have Mayweather fight the winner if he overcomes Alvarez.

No matter who wins, Garcia-Matthysse can’t miss in terms of entertaining fans. And having them perform before consumers who might not otherwise have seen their fight could help build Mayweather versus the winner into a more profitable fight.

But when asked Thursday how much of a factor showcasing a potential opponent for Mayweather was in getting Garcia-Matthysse made for Sept. 14 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Mayweather adviser Leonard Ellerbe chuckled before offering an evasive response.

“Our focus is just on Sept. 14,” Ellerbe said. “There are a number of guys — everyone in the sport wants to fight Floyd around those weight classes, from [140] to [154]. There’s a whole number of guys that want the opportunity at the Mayweather sweepstakes, but both guys are tremendous fighters. Come Sept. 14, I can’t wait, as a fight fan myself, to see this fight.”

The winner between Philadelphia’s Garcia (26-0, 16 KOs) and Argentina’s Matthysse (34-2, 32 KOs, 1 NC) would have to move up from junior welterweight to welterweight for a shot at Mayweather. If Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KOs) upsets Mayweather (44-0, 26 KOs), the Garcia-Matthysse winner probably wouldn’t face the Mexican star because that would require the winner to move up two weight classes.

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.