To this point, Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. has been the most dominant fighter of his era. If he wants to solidify his legacy, he needs to take on the challenge of moving further up in weight class for his remaining fights.
After breaking every monetary threshold during his clinical destruction of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, it’s apparent Money has no real equal when fighting in his comfort zone. Sure, he moved up to a catchweight to face Alvarez, but a bigger leap may be needed to find a quality opponent.
With two years and four fights remaining on his huge deal with Showtime, he has plenty of time to set up some huge fights.
All of boxing’s greatest fighters have moved up and excelled at each weight class they have fought in. Money has already done this, but with today’s lack of volume in competition, there are fewer and fewer great fighters to choose from.
Another move is a necessity, even if it isn’t a big one.
Even if he finds a competent challenger at a higher weight class, Money proved against Alvarez that power and weight are not, in themselves, enough to pose a problem. His picture-perfect defense and incredibly fast hands negated any disadvantage the pound-for-pound king may have had in that regard.
So, who should Mayweather look to fight?
According to his trainer, Gennady Golovkin would be willing to drop down to 154 pounds to take on Mayweather eventually, per ESPN’s Michael Woods.
If Mayweather can do it physically, he should consider moving the fight up to 160 to fight him. That is, if a deal can be made between the two fighters’ camps—with Golovkin’s WBA middleweight title on the line.
Alvarez was fighting at 165 on fight night after weighing in at the 152-pound catchweight on the previous day.
Golovkin's camp said he's comfortable fighting anywhere between 154-175, per Woods, so fighting him at 160 would likely mean a much bigger opponent than Mayweather is used to. The only question is whether or not Golovkin could connect on enough power punches to make that advantage matter.
It didn't for Alvarez.
Adding another belt while defeating one of the top boxers in the sport would be a huge achievement for Mayweather late in his career. One that could even set a new record for his bank account in the process.
While his next fight may not be much higher up in weight class, Mayweather has to be thinking about moving in that direction to find competition.
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