Floyd "Money" Mayweather Jr. dominated Saul "Canelo" Alvarez on Saturday night during one of the most hyped fights of the entire year.
Now that Money has moved on to 45-0 and Canelo is reeling from his first-ever loss, many fans are asking the question: What now?
Let’s take a look at what could be on the horizon and make a prediction on who will be the next opponent for each fighter.
Alvarez Will Move On Quickly
Canelo is reeling after losing in a matchup billed as “The One”—unquestionably the biggest fight of his young career—but the Mexican pugilist shouldn’t remain down for long.
Alvarez’s inexperience was the biggest hindrance to his ability to truly contend with Mayweather for the championship, but he now knows what makes Money such a special fighter and can apply that experience toward improving and beating future foes.
While he’s going to remain a power-puncher who is capable of delivering knockout blows when the opportunity represents itself, expect to see Canelo become more of a “thinker”—as Mayweather called him after the fight—and work on incorporating more speed into his style.
At the age of 23, Canelo still has plenty of years left to hone his craft and could retire with the only blemish on his record being the one Mayweather delivered on Saturday.
Expect him to take a step back and get his confidence up with a relatively easy opponent in his quest to climb back toward the top.
Miguel Cotto looks attractive, especially if he can oust Delvin Rodriguez after losing back-to-back matches against Mayweather and Austin Trout.
It’s a likely matchup that should draw quite a bit of viewers, but also put Canelo back on track to becoming a champion once Money finally hangs up his gloves.
Mayweather Will Go Undefeated
With almost nothing left to prove, Mayweather has to win just five more matches to reach 50-0-0 in his career.
Should he do that, he would be one of the few fortunate boxers to end a career with perfect record—especially impressive after almost two decades of professional boxing.
Canelo may have been the toughest challenger Money faced in the twilight of his career, as it seems that a super fight with Manny "Pac-Man" Pacquiao is now a distant dream.
Pac-Man is coming off two straight losses and no longer has the same draw prior to a controversial decision against Timothy Bradley and being knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez.
Assuming the two popular fighters never find a way to enter the same squared circle, it seems the most likely opponent Money will face is Danny Garcia.
The American fighter beat Lucas Matthysse during the primary undercard bout on Saturday night and is now the top challenger to Mayweather’s crown.
However, even with Garcia sitting at 27-0 and an outstanding puncher, he is of little threat to Money’s undefeated record. It’s a fight that Mayweather could use to increase his resume to 46-0-0 and pad his bank account with a few million more dollars.
It’s unfortunate, but at 36 years old, Mayweather must choose his spots wisely, and that fight makes the most sense at this juncture of his career.
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