By Chris Robinson
Earlier this week I spoke with Las Vegas-based trainer Jeff Mayweather, who gave his thoughts on the recent trilogy bout between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez as well as his feelings if we will ever see a fight between his nephew Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Pacquiao.
Mayweather was adamant with his belief that Floyd would defeat any version of Pacquiao, but seems to feel that if the fight isn’t made immediately that it likely will never be made at all.
Life must move on, however, and with Mayweather lined up for a May 5th return to the MGM Grand, it’s only realistic to take a look at his options moving forward if a Pacquiao fight can’t get made.
In his own words, this is what Uncle Jeff had to say about some fighters who have called out Floyd in the past as well as some matchups near the undefeated superstar’s welterweight class…
Why junior welterweight champion Tim Bradley doesn’t make sense…
“There’s a few guys out there that can make the fight interesting at least because they have a following. It only makes since to fight guys who have a following because it’s a business. It doesn’t make any sense to fight a guy like a Tim Bradley, who has no following at all. He’s a good fighter but he’s meaningless when it comes to pay-per-view.”
Why Amir Khan is overrated…
“Amir Khan has a following. He’s a good fighter but he’s very overrated. He still fights like an amateur but he has fast hands, he has decent power, but there’s nothing special about him.”
The growing legacy of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez…
“He’s one of those guys that, I don’t think he will ever be a superstar, but he’s a great young fighter. I think his legacy is going to grow as he goes on and he’ll probably even get better with age, but I still don’t see nothing special in him. I just think he’s a very, very good fighter for his age.”
Lineal middleweight champion Sergio Martinez…
“Oh yeah. He’s an elite fighter. He’s one of the top guys in boxing now. Unfortunately for him, his best matches are probably if he moves up to 168. There’s nothing really there at 160.”
Why Martinez against either Mayweather or Pacquiao isn’t realistic…
“I think that if he came down to 154, I don’t think he would beat Floyd or Manny. And that’s just in all honest. The guy comes from 175, 180, he’ll kill himself trying to come down those extra seven pounds.”
The Victor Ortiz-Andre Berto rematch in early 2012…
“Very, very interesting fight. Live fight, interesting fight. I’m sure it’s going to be entertaining. I don’t know who I would really pick. I think that Berto only would have to make a few little adjustments to really become victorious. I think it’s going to be a very, very good fight for anybody to watch and I think that it’s a pick-em’ fight.”
This Saturday’s Antonio Margarito-Miguel Cotto rematch at Madison Square Garden…
“Another very interesting fight and I lean towards Cotto in that fight. I think that it’s one of those situations where, because of the cheating and whatever, if you don’t get caught doing something, you’re not going to change until you’re caught. And since he’s been caught, he hasn’t looked like anything spectacular at all. He got knocked out by Shane, got knocked out by Manny. So I don’t see, without the hand wraps, I don’t say he’s going to get knocked out but I think he’s going to get beat.”
Why Cotto should target Margarito’s surgically-repaired right eye…
“I think he should target it. He’s a guy who cheated against him, and he’s it’s not cheating to target something that’s there. That should be Cotto’s strategy.”
