By Sammy Rozenberg
In the aftermath of Zab Judah’s derailment, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. may have been left out in the cold without a recognized dance partner for April 8. A battle with Zab Judah was on the eve of becoming a reality for Mayweather’s second headline appearance on pay-per-view. A reality until Judah broke down against unheralded Carlos Baldomir from Argentina.
It was scenario reminiscent of Terry Norris being knocked out by Keith Mullings in what Norris called a simple tuneup towards his already agreed upon superfight with Oscar De La Hoya. Unexpectedly Norris was stopped, his career never recovered and a very anticipated fight with De La Hoya never took place.
The question is where Mayweather goes from here? There have already been feelers sent from people involved with Mayweather to Mike Marley, the adviser of Baldomir. Unless there is an abundance of money in the fight, it won’t not happen. The people behind Baldomir are not dummies, they know what Carlos can and can’t do. A fight against Mayweather for a minor amount of money is a sucker’s deal. At this point Baldomir can defend his title in Argentina for a decent amount of coin.
Mayweather was a smart cookie for never vacating the WBC junior welterweight title. It leaves him with the option of moving back down to 140 pounds and possible unifying the division against Ricky Hatton or Miguel Cotto. Speaking of Hatton and Cotto, two men that Mayweather will likely not face in the immediate future.
In terms of money, Hatton is worth more in England than Mayweather is worth in America. I don’t see Floyd being eager to fly over to England in order to make the fight, or take a smaller slice of the money pie. No definite word on Hatton’s contractual status with Showtime, which could be another hurdle to overcome if they ever become serious about making the fight.
With respect to Miguel Cotto, I don’t see Top Rank putting him in the ring against Mayweather until 2007 or later. There are two ways to look at Cotto. One can say that Top Rank should match them now, mainly because some feel that Cotto is one punch away from being knocked out. The other part of the equation is to keep Cotto away from Mayweather in order to capitalize on his new found fame of being the second coming of Arturo Gatti. Cotto is tailor made for Mayweather, and could become damaged goods as a result.
Recently Floyd restarted his campaigns for landing fights with Winky Wright and Oscar De La Hoya, fights that won’t happen as they conflict with Mayweather’s ego. Mayweather refused to go 50-50 with Wright, and I can’t see him giving De La Hoya a far larger portion of the money. Regardless of what he wants, De La Hoya has said time and time again that he will not face Mayweather, because of the deep love and respect that he has for his trainer Floyd Mayweather, Sr.
Oscar said that he will not fight without Mayweather, Sr. as his trainer, and he is not going to ask Mayweather to train him in order to beat up his son.
Winky Wright is another story in itself. A shot was heard around the world when Mayweather called out Winky Wright for a catch-weight battle at 154 pounds. Most saw it as a marketing ploy by Mayweather, and most still do. Gary Shaw, the promoter of Wright, claims to have offered a very substantial amount of money to Mayweather in order to make the fight. Mayweather’s camp claims that the money was not very substantial, at least not substantial enough to fight Winky Wright.
The two sides went back and forth on the numbers and as most expected, the fight fell apart before negotiations ever became serious.
There has been no mention of WBO champion Antonio Margarito from the mouth of Mayweather. The camp of Margarito claims that Floyd is running scared. Mayweather claims there is no money in fighting Margarito. Both could be right, it’s a fight that hardcore boxing fans want, but in this era of boxing it’s not about the fans - it’s about making money. More often than none, fighters look at each fight from a financial standpoint and if doesn’t make money, it doesn’t make sense.
Mayweather’s best bet is for Shane Mosley to beat Fernando Vargas in February, and then target Mosley for a fight at 147 pounds. Mosley has made it perfectly clear that win or lose - he is moving back down to welterweight.
It’s an interesting fight for both, Mosley a fighter once considered to be the best in the business, going up against the fighter that most experts now consider as the best in the business.
There are several other avenues for Mayweather to explore, but those avenues are not very profitable. Just like Bernard Hopkins found out the hard way in his respective career - securing a big money fight with the lion’s share of the purse is easier said than done.
