After putting forth a decidedly dominant night of boxing against Saul Alvarez, Floyd Mayweather is one step closer to finishing his career undefeated—which would arguably cement his status as the greatest fighter ever to set foot in a ring.
In Canelo, Money took on a quality opponent who has quickly become one of the sport's most promising young contenders, and more importantly, one who posed an interesting matchup for the pound-for-pound world champion.
That's because Alvarez, who reportedly weighed 165 pounds by the time the fight began, held a clear advantage in terms of power and knockout potential. But in the end, that mattered very little when determining the outcome of the bout.
Mayweather threw less punches but landed over 50 more (232 of 505 vs. Canelo's 176 of 526), and that was without a doubt one of the deciding factors of the match.
But now, Mayweather needs another challenger, as he's got four more fights remaining on his deal with Showtime/CBS.
So, following the undefeated legend's victory over Alvarez, here's a look at the most likely candidates to get the call to fight Money next.
Saul Alvarez
No, it wasn't close as far as the final decision—except of course in the eyes of ringside judge CJ Ross—but it was an entertaining enough of a bout that the hard-hitting Mexican could receive an invitation to get a shot at revenge against Money.
At 42-1-1, Canelo has proven he is currently among the best fighters even remotely close to Mayweather's potential range of weights, so it wouldn't be shocking to see them go at it again in 2014.
As some others have suggested, Money could prove once again that while Alvarez appears destined to become one of the sport's premier competitors in the future, this is still Floyd's world.
Danny Garcia
Just before Mayweather and Alvarez went head-to-head, 25-year-old Danny Garcia announced his arrival as one of boxing's next big things with a hard-fought victory over Lucas Matthysse in Las Vegas.
In defeating the hard-hitting Argentine, Garcia remained undefeated and retained his WBC and WBA light-welterweight titles, so it's conceivable that the Philadelphia native could be a top choice to take on Money in what would be easily the biggest fight of his young career to date.
He isn't as big of a name as some of Money's most recent opponents, but given his ability to withstand a beating (as he did on Saturday), he could prove to be an intriguing challenger for Mayweather.
Amir Khan
It hasn't been the most dominant of two-year stretches for Amir Khan, as the 26-year-old's dropped two of his last four bouts, including one at the hands of Garcia, who delivered a TKO in Round 4 of their meeting in 2012.
But after defeating Carlos Molina and Julio Diaz, Khan has the potential to get the call to fight Mayweather. But as Bad Left Hook's Scott Christ noted, that's only if he emerges victorious over Devon Alexander in December.
...the winner of a potential December 7 fight between Devon Alexander and Amir Khan also figures to factor into the decision, particularly if it's Khan, a fighter Golden Boy seems desperate to get into a Mayweather fight, perhaps if only to get that one true "big fight" out of his career.
Khan's loss to Garcia—who, as noted above is now a potential contender to fight Money—puts him at a disadvantage because it's difficult to see the former WBC Silver Super Lightweight titleholder having a reasonable shot at taking down Mayweather.
But if he can defeat Alexander on December 7, the Brit will certainly be in the conversation when it comes to determining Money's next opponent.
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