No Mayweather? Probable Pacquiao Opponents Line Up

At this point in time, nobody knows whether or not Floyd Mayweather will once again go into a hiatus and leave the boxing world hinging on what could have been an explosive showdown between himself and Fighter of the Decade Manny Pacquiao. But in any case Mayweather does make true of his statements and leave boxing again and leave his crusade for drug-free boxing matches and “focus” on his other endeavors, here are some good fights Pacquiao and his camp may consider for his one last hurrah before the Fighting Pride of the Philippines shifts his attention to the Philippine politics. 

Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto II (Light Middleweight) 

Miguel Cotto tops the list of possible replacements should Pacquiao-Mayweather will never materialize. Cotto is coming off from a fresh win over former WBA light middleweight champion Yuri Foreman and rematch between the two presents a huge significance for Pacquiao. A victory over Cotto at light middleweight will give Pacquiao his 8th title in eight divisions, which would definitely up his ante exponentially. However, Pacquiao might be pushing himself if he does go north the scales and add more weight. 

And then there is also the element of revenge. Cotto suffered a beatdown and should they fight again, expect the Puerto Rican to return the favor.

Williams Survived Martinez Onslaught

Paul Williams narrowly escaped a loss after a close, grueling, and action-packed match with Sergio Martinez in a middleweight bout last December 5. That the most feared and most avoided boxer today was shown as vulnerable as any, Martinez exposed after going toe-to-toe with Williams.

Martinez was able to down Williams in the first round, cut him over the eye in the fourth, and perhaps outworked him the rest of the night. Williams may have done enough to survive the beating. Either way, both men could have won. It was very close. So close a draw would have been justified and rightly so.

But what transpired in the scoring is one reason why boxers should never leave it to the judges. Judge Julie Lederman scored it even (114-114), but Lynne Carter credited Williams with a narrow win (115-113). The most bizarre twist came from the third judge, Pierre Benoist, as he scored the bout with a very surprising (gasping) 119-110 scorecard.

Benoist either watched a totally different fight, or had placed a huge bet on Williams. Either way, that guy should not score a bout again.

I do believe Martinez deserves a rematch. But after the beatdown he dished to Williams, I doubt the “most feared” man in boxing would want anything to do with Martinez.