Larry Merchant On Floyd Mayweather and His Next Opponent

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    Since Floyd Mayweather has returned home from his prison stint, the news surrounding Floyd has been negative. Whether it’d be a rumored affair between his love interest Miss Jackson and his former friend/business partner (or so we thought) 50 cent, a video shoot with the same mentioned Miss Jackson and former Mayweather opponent Victor Ortiz, or the highly publicized break up between 50 cent and Mayweather regarding TMT Promotions, it’s just been a few months of gossip and TMZ surrounding Mayweather.

    However, this week photos have been posted on Mayweather’s twitter and Instagram accounts showing Floyd Mayweather sweating and training. Could that mean we get to see the return of the pound for pound king soon? If so, when and who? One can only figure that the gym and the ring is where Mayweather feels at home and a place where his skills and money making ability are second to none.

    ThaBoxingVoice.com reached out to Larry Merchant, a man who has called many of Mayweather’s fights ringside and even had a confrontation with Mayweather, to see if he could gauge how would be Mayweather’s next opponent. “I’m the worst expert on who Mayweather fights next. I’ve been thinking he was going to fight Manny Pacquiao for 3 years, and all the people that said no were right(laughs). I don’t know if Timothy Bradley is free to fight him or is he tied up with Top Rank. I don’t know if Canelo Alvarez would be his opponent if given the choice between Miguel Cotto and Mayweather, what his decision would be,” explained Merchant.

    The fact of the matter is the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight is still salivated by many, Miguel Cotto has mentioned a rematch with Mayweather and one must think that is why he went after Austin Trout to gain a belt as the ‘regular’ WBA 154 lb champion to Floyd Mayweather ‘super’ WBA strap he won from Cotto this past May.

    The wildcard in this all might be Canelo Alvarez. The popularity of the Mexican star has grown so much that he may have the option to choose between a mega fight with Floyd Mayweather or Miguel Cotto in the famed Mexico-Puerto Rico rivalry, a fight that may be easier to win for Alvarez.

    “I mean it’s crazy but Alvarez has some say in the decision here.  A fight with Miguel Cotto for Alvarez would be a big deal Alvarez might think that a Cotto fight is more winnable and he’s put himself in the position that he can make that kind of choice by becoming so popular among the most passionate fans in boxing, the Mexican and Mexican American fans. If he’s done that then he’s put himself where he can make some choices and the fact that he wants a step up is his preference and its great,” proclaimed Merchant.

    But with Mayweather, you never know. Mayweather was live at Berto-Ortiz 1 to ‘enjoy’ some boxing and ended up taking on the winner, Victor Ortiz a few months later. That same Andre Berto is fighting for an interim WBC welterweight belt against Robert ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero on November 24th. The real version of that belt was last held by Mayweather when he dethroned Ortiz. Not to mention, Guerrero has been clamoring for a fight with Mayweather for the past year.

    So who knows? Certainly not Merchant. “Why would we know who Floyd fights, we know some of the short list guys. I noted that one of his people was at the Danny Garcia-Erik Morales fight last week, so does that mean anything, I don’t know. Maybe he ends up fighting Pacquiao, but with Mayweather, you just never know.”