Before he can even consider his next fight, Mayweather first needs to deal with his legal problems and address the possibility of choosing a new trainer should his uncle Roger Mayweather soon be out of the picture. Upcoming court dates for both could conceivably mean that Floyd never fights again, or that he could be ready if not necessarily willing to fight again in a couple of months time.
At the very earliest then, Mayweather may take to the ring in the summer, if underneath it all he still feels the inclination to fight again at all that is. Who he might fight though is still a mystery to seemingly all but Floyd himself, who has not yet even mentioned any potential opponents other than during his anti-Pacquiao rant several months ago.
Amir Khan is one fighter who has been mentioning fighting Mayweather in a year or two, and while Golden Boy seem keen on the idea Khan has other fish to fry first. Presumably unifying the light welterweight division and winning a belt at full welterweight would both be advisable moves for Khan before he takes on someone of Mayweather's caliber, meaning that a meeting in 2011 looks unlikely.
Should he decide to fight again in a few month's time though, there are options out there for Mayweather. Probably the most difficult option, and the one opponent other than Manny Pacquiao that could win back the respect of a lot of the fans and scribes his recent behaviour turned away would be Sergio Martinez, which would also give Mayweather a strong claim to the pound for pound throne once more.
Martinez is the option other than Pacquiao that the fans want, but he isn't the only option. With his drawing power and reputation within the sport as one of the best boxers of his generation, Mayweather can more or less pick and choose who he wants to fight, and even with a third tier opponent would probably achieve good pay per view numbers. The potential danger to his legacy being that he chooses to take easy big money fights instead of the fights that the public want to see.
For Pacquiao, the question is who rather than if he will fight this year, and part of that question was answered with Bob Arum's holiday announcement that Pacquiao will meet former Mayweather opponent Shane Mosley in April.
The worst case scenario for Pacquiao then is that he takes what are regarded as two or three easy fights in the coming year. Not easy in the sense that the opponents are unknowns or that they aren't at or near the top of their relative divisions, but for someone regarded as highly as Pacquiao, the expectations are different from those placed on the average fighter.
Fights against Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito both drew widespread criticism last year, and from early impressions the Mosley fight isn't a popular one either. Of course, given Pacquiao's exciting style his fights are always going to sell well, but should Mayweather return and take on two or three top opponents in succession the Filipino's ranking and standing in the sport could eventually suffer.
While the likes of Sergio Martinez, Paul Williams, Devon Alexander, Tim Bradley or Andre Berto might make for more interesting and competitive opponents for Pacquiao though, none are household names to the same extent that his Top Rank stablemates are. Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito and Shane Mosley might be past their respective primes, but their name recognition alone means that fights against Pacquiao will generate big money for all parties.
So for that reason alone it looks unlikely that Pacquiao will be taking on anything but Top Rank affiliated fighters for the foreseeable future. According to comments from Bob Arum, Shane Mosley in April followed by a rematch with the winner of Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito in the late summer are the current plans. Beyond this Juan Manuel Marquez might be in with a shot, although that probably depends largely on who else Top Rank can find to take on Pacquiao between now and then.
Of course there is always a chance, albeit by the looks of things a remote one, that Pacquiao and Mayweather will fight each other sometime later this year. The second half of Pacquiao's calender is currently blank as far as opponents go, and Mayweather for the time being probably has little planned other than staying out of jail.
Eduardo Silva, Pitt: "If Floyd beats Martinez he's the p4p best again, no one Pac's been fighting is close to Martinez"
Michael Salvador, Manila: "Floyd don't want Manny and he never will, he's still scared of losing his 0"
-examiner.com
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