The whole world is waiting for Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao to meet in the ring. Of course, the Pac-Man has to take care of business in a stiff challenge against Juan Manuel Marquez on Nov. 12, and then a lot of agreements have to be made.
At this point, it’s hard for neutral parties to know who to believe and what is truly holding up what would be the biggest fight in some time. However, the best actual fight out there for Mayweather, might just be middleweight champion Sergio Martinez, who has said he would come down in weight to fight Mayweather or Pacquiao.
The 36-year-old Martinez is just looking for his shot. With not many more years ahead of him, the time is right for him to land a marquee bout. He has earned the right, fighting his way up the pound-for-pound rankings in the past few years, and leaving little doubt that he is the best 160-pound fighter on the planet.
He would present an interesting opponent for Mayweather. He fights with his hands down, is an excellent athlete, and has also displayed one-punch knockout capability in his biggest win to date, a second-round KO of Paul Williams. He would be one of the more skilled opponents Mayweather has faced recently. And for Martinez, it would be a validation of his lofty pound-for-pound rankings, as he is seemingly running out of strong options in the middleweight realm.
On Oct. 1, Martinez will meet Darren Barker. If he wins that, as he is expected to do, then his next best option to Mayweather and Pacquiao might just be Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., but it’s the another junior whom I want to see him fight.
So while Manny’s legion of fans argues with Floyd’s legion of fans about who’s keeping their fight from happening, Martinez will simply have to sit and wait along with the rest of us.
OTHER FIGHTS WE’D LIKE TO SEE
Victor Ortiz vs Andre Berto II: Let’s do it again. I’d imagine Ortiz’s camp will be anxious to get back in the ring, and a Mayweather rematch would seem unlikely right off the bat, so let’s get Berto, who returned to his winning ways recently, back in there and repeat what was one of the most action-packed fights of the past year.
Amir Khan vs. Timothy Bradley: This one does not seem likely to get done any time soon, but if it did, it would settle the 140-pound division. Bradley seems holding out for a possible Pacquiao clash, but we’d first like to see him get through Khan, who has been impressive in his past few fights and probably will not fight at 140 much longer.
Nonito Donaire vs. Abner Mares: Donaire will be facing undefeated Omar Narvaez in October. Should he win that, the best fight for him would be Mares, who scored a somewhat controversial win over Joseph Agbeko recently. There is a rematch, with no date set, but if Mares wins that and Donaire wins his fight, then the two should square off and settle who is the best of the bantamweights before Donaire likely moves up in weight.
Bernard Hopkins vs. Tavoris Cloud: If B-Hop gets through Chad Dawson, we’d love to see him take on Cloud, one of the top prospects in the light-heavyweight division. Is the youngster ready for such a challenge? There’s only one way to find out if there’s a changing of the guard, or if Hopkins can continue his improbable late-career surge.
