Floyd Mayweather easily defeated Robert Guerrero by unanimous decision on "May Day." The question now is who will be next for the dominant fighter.
The champion boxer has hinted at retirement as soon as his six-fight, 30-month deal with Showtime is finished. According to Dan Rafael of ESPN, Mayweather recently said, "Well, you know, I only have 30 months left, so I want to just help clean the sport up. After this fight I've got five more fights. That's all I got to do, finish putting them stamps on my legacy."
If he wants to improve his legacy, the next five fights have to be more than simply showcases of his ability against inferior opponents. He needs legitimate threats that will excite fans and prove that he is truly the best.
For this to happen, Mayweather must fight at least one of these boxers in his next few fights.
Sergio Martinez
Although there is a bit of a weight gap at this point after Mayweather just battled at welterweight, these two are fully capable of finding a division to compete at.
Sergio Martinez continues to take down every competitor in the middleweight division, and it's time for him to get a chance against the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport.
The southpaw has the talent and the resume to make him a worthy foe for Money, although his age at 38 years old is certain to become a problem. Mayweather's speed around the ring will give Martinez trouble, and this would likely end in favor of the welterweight champ.
Still, this would be a fight that plenty of people would get excited for as Mayweather continues to show he can handle opponents at any weight.
Manny Pacquiao
This is the fight that everyone wants to see—or, at least, it was. ESPN's Skip Bayless believes it would have been more interesting a couple of years ago:
Unfortunately, Pacquiao is coming off back-to-back losses and is still involved in a rivalry with Juan Manuel Marquez. Until he settles that, it would be difficult to move on.
Of course, the Pac-man is still willing to set up this highly anticipated bout. His advisor, Michael Koncz, stated, "We're open to that fight, we've always wanted that fight. Now it's in Floyd's court" (via ESPN).
Although the public outcry for this matchup has cooled, there would still be a lot of excitement if it ever took place.
Plus, it would give Mayweather an opportunity to silence critics by defeating one of the more popular fighters in the sport, even if Pacquiao is not the boxer that he once was.
Saul "Canelo" Alvarez
At only 22 years old, Canelo Alvarez has already seen an incredible amount of success. He is 42-0 and seems to only be getting better with time.
Most recently, he dominated the previously undefeated Austin Trout to retain his light middleweight title by unanimous decision.
If Mayweather is ever going to fight Alvarez, he better do it soon before the youngster is able to overtake him as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
At this point, though, Money has the quickness to stick with the lighter competitor and the experience to land enough big punches to get a victory. He certainly will not allow his opponent to connect on enough power punches to do serious damage.
By defeating Alvarez, Mayweather would also show that he is able to take on the best challenger near his weight and still come out victorious. This would mean more to his legacy than multiple easy victories.
Bleacher Reports' Alfred "Big Nasty" Konuwa breaks down why this fight needs to happen:
Hopefully, fans get what they want and this exciting bout comes to fruition.
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