Whether Floyd Mayweather Jr. is joking or not, the names, Andre Berto and Karim Mayfield should not be associated with him for his September 12th fight date. I’m not sure if Mayfield has ever been elite or close to it.
While Berto is entertaining, he has always been joked as the stepping stone to getting a Floyd Mayweather fight. Yes, he just beat Josesito Lopez but does that warrant being in the ring with Floyd Mayweather?
Mayweather name dropped Chris Algieri during an interview on Tha Boxing Voice YouTube Channel in regards to being a Manny Pacquiao opponent last year.
Granted, Algieri was a heavy underdog, and it showed but he did beat Ruslan Provodnikov prior, which was a frontrunner for Pacquiao should he have won. I’m not saying Algieri is a class above Berto or Mayfield, but he did something to earn a big fight.
Then there’s Amir Khan, a man that has been campaigning for a Mayweather fight for years. Had Khan took a Devon Alexander fight in 2013 and won, he probably would have landed a Mayweather fight in 2014. Instead, he waited and let Marcos Maidana swoop in and take his chance by being impressive in beating Adrien Broner.
Khan was supposed to look great versus the before mentioned Chris Algieri to build a fight with Mayweather. Instead, more questions were raised.
If there’s anyone left that deserves a crack at the best fighter of this era, in my opinion, it’s Timothy Bradley.
Bradley’s resume is as good as anyone’s in this era. He has taken the 0’s of Jessie Vargas, Luis Abregu, Lamont Peterson, and Devon Alexander when they were considered the two best 140 lb. fighters in the world.
He went on the road to beat Junior Witter for his first world title. He survived a knockdown versus Kendall Holt in the first round and out-boxed him to unify two 140 lb. titles. He was in a fight of the year against Ruslan Provodnikov. To top it all off, he out-boxed the legend that is Juan Manuel Marquez after Marquez knocked out Manny Pacquiao with one right hand in 2012.
There’s only one fighter who has beaten Timothy Bradley, and that’s Manny Pacquiao. There is no shame in that. Many feel Pacquiao beat him twice. After their first encounter in 2012 where Bradley won a controversial decision, Bradley received death threats and lost a lot of fanfare. He has built it back up after.
It may have taken a long three years, but barring a 10 second mishap by referee Pat Russell this past Saturday, I think Bradley is becoming more of a fan favorite as his 1.2 million viewer rating on HBO suggests it.
He deserves a Mayweather fight more than a Keith Thurman, a Kell Brook, a Shawn Porter, a Gennady Golovkin(Yes that’s ridiculous), or anyone.
Of course there are cold war implications but if HBO and Sho and Arum and Haymon did it once before with Mayweather-Pacquiao, I think they can with Mayweather-Bradley. Bradley will no doubt by the B-side and so will HBO once again, but I don’t think Arum will have as much reservations of giving up leverage to the other side with Bradley.
Bradley has made multi-million dollars in his fights with Pacquiao and Marquez, but he won’t command 40 percent of the pot versus Mayweather, and I think Arum knows this and would be willing to work with Mayweather and Haymon again.
“If Mayweather is looking around for an opponent, the guy capable of giving him the best fight, who is available, is Bradley. Many people would agree with that,” Arum said to Dan Rafael of ESPN. “I’ve let it be known, and now it’s Mayweather’s decision. So now I’m waiting for a call from his people or not. I’m not waiting with baited breath by my phone, but they know where to call me. If they call me, I will try to set up the fight. We showed from Mayweather-[Manny] Pacquiao fight things could be worked out.”
Bradley has options whether it’s the Sadam Ali fight being mentioned, Kell Brook, or even Brandon Rios.
However, if Mayweather wants a precursor to a possible Pacquiao rematch next year, why not give Tim Bradley the shot?
