Photo edit Lorin Elise/Keystone Boxing
With the news of the highly anticipated showdown between Saul ‘Canelo‘ Alvarez and Miguel Cotto being allegedly redundant, is the Puerto Rican superstar now unexpectedly being lined up for another clash with boxing’s pound-for-pound king, Floyd Mayweather?
For the past few months, the super fight the world has been waiting for between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao has been seemingly closer than ever. Talk from both team Pacquiao and Top Rank promotions were as positive as they had ever been. The man from the Philippines has confirmed he has agreed to the drug-testing obstacle, along with a 60/40 money split in Mayweather’s favor.
However, Money May has been surprisingly muted about the whole affair, leaving many pundits unconvinced that Mayweather will sign on the dotted line, even if Pacquiao has agreed to his part of the deal.
Mayweather is adamant that he does what he wants, when he wants, therefore, there is a colossal question mark hanging over the richest fight in boxing history.
WBC Middleweight champion Cotto seemed to have cemented his very own super fight against one of boxing’s top pay-per-view stars in Canelo. A lot of negotiations have taken place from the pair’s respected camps, regarding venue, date and catch weight, although, many were convinced that both Cotto and Canelo would come to some sort of an agreement, giving the fans a real firecracker of a fight.
Despite this, that fight now looks dead in the water, making Cotto along with Canelo free to face anyone they choose. So if Mayweather comes knocking for Cotto, then Miguel will duly oblige him. This fight may look slightly far-fetched however as the reigning Middleweight champion Cotto has the chance to right a previous wrong from 2011 that he believes was unjust, while the pound-for-pound king could add another string to his bow by winning a world title at Middleweight.
In the end though, the decision lays solely with Mayweather. If he chooses to settle his six-year feud with Pacquiao, then Floyd will inherit a great deal of respect for taking such a fight, irrespective of it being six years too late in many peoples eyes.
If he chooses to face Cotto though, which could very easily be the case, then Floyd could not only find his legacy tainted but face a backlash from the fans as well as the media who would find it extremely difficult to defend him for not taking on the second best fighter of his generation.
Still, Floyd will do what Floyd wants to do. If he says Cotto, then the Puerto Rican star will gain another mouth-watering purse for their matchup, unfortunately leaving the boxing world somewhat short changed as Manny Pacquiao drifts deeper and deeper into retirement.
