By Edward Chaykovsky
Last month, welterweight and junior middleweight world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (49-0, 26KOs) retired from the sport. He announced his decision following a twelve round unanimous decision over Andre Berto on September 12th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Around the time he walked away from the ring, there was a lot of discussion about whether or not Mayweather would entertain a fight with WBA/IBO/IBF middleweight champion Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (34-0, 31KOs), who was willing to come down in weight to 154.
Showtime analyst Al Bernstein believes Mayweather, at 38-years-old, is unable to deal with the size and power of Golovkin, who also possesses very sound boxing ability.
"I don’t think he beats Golovkin, I think Golovkin beats him. He’s too big and too strong and he knows how to box. I’m not sure Mayweather at this age can even defensively outbox him over the course of a twelve round fight. It’s gonna be hard for him," Bernstein told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.
If Mayweather decides to return to the ring in 2016, Golovkin would be the last fighter on his list of potential opponents, says Bernstein. He says a middleweight champion like Miguel Cotto, who is very small for the weight and was already beaten by Mayweather, is far more likely.
"I don’t think he wants to fight Golovkin. That would be a huge fight for him and it would make zillions of dollars, but I don’t know that he wants to do that. I don’t think he wants to fight a bigger man. He’s hoping that Miguel Cotto beats Canelo, and if Miguel Cotto beats Canelo, he can return and fight Cotto again, and that would be a lucrative fight," Bernstein said.
