Floyd Mayweather announced that he'll fight at least fight five more times before calling it a career, so who's on the short list after Miguel Cotto? After his near-miss against Carlos Molina last weekend, how will James Kirkland rebound from this latest setback? Is Bryant Jennings the real deal in US Heavyweight boxing? Find out the answers to these questions and more in this week's "From Pillar to Post."
Mayweather on the Final Stretch of Career
Floyd Mayweather knows that at 35 years old, he may not have too much time left in the sport, but he's already taken the initiative to say that he may fight five more times after his highly-anticipated May 5 clash with Miguel Cotto. Mayweather will be facing a three-month jail stint beginning in June, but should he come back for a late fall or winter fight, the front-runner to face him will be the Wendy's hamburger girl himself, Saul Alvarez. Provided that Alvarez is able to turn away the challenge of Shane Mosley on the undercard of Cotto/Mayweather, he is all but locked it seems to face off against Mayweather in a unification match.
As far as who else is on the horizon for Mayweather, it is unclear, as is where he will continue to campaign in his career from here on out. Though Cotto and Alvarez are the cream of the crop at 154 in terms of revenue driving, my best guess is that Mayweather makes his way back down to 147 where more financially viable fights can be made. Potential long-term opponents include Amir Khan, Victor Ortiz, Andre Berto, Lamont Peterson, or even Danny Garcia, but this should be taken as speculation and nothing more.
I know who he WON'T be fighting though and that's Congressman Pacquiao, who is having his share of trouble in addition to raising the retirement issue. As Pacquiao prepares for his fight with Timothy Bradley one month after Mayweather/Cotto, he's embattled right now with the Filipino version of the IRS for failing to present the necessary documents to report his earnings. He actually faces two years of jail time if found guilty. Pacquiao and Mayweather will continue to dance around each other until Bob Arum, Pacquiao's promoter, gives him permission to fight him, though it is increasingly likely that they'll both retire before any serious attempt to make the fight comes to light.
Serious Readjustments Needed For James Kirkland
I think I've said enough about how James Kirkland, the greatest fighter in the history of boxing according to some e-mails I've received, looked awful after being dominated in his fight with Carlos Molina before Molina was disqualified. You can call it irresponsibility on the part of Golden Boy Promotions for matching Kirkland up with an awkward and skilled opponent in Molina, but they wouldn't have made this fight if they weren't sure that Kirkland wasn't going to win. Whatever the case, Kirkland is going to revert to fighting ready-to-order fighters for the time being, but things need to be changed if he's going to get any better.
If Kirkland doesn't want to invest time in training camp sharpening his fundamentals in favor of weight lifting or whatever it is he is doing, that's his prerogative and the prerogative of his trainer, Ann Wolfe, but last weekend should now make it evident that what they were doing wasn't working. Hard to say what Kirkland does from here, but no doubt Golden Boy isn't going to make the same mistake twice and we'll see Kirkland look nothing short of explosive against a chinny, legless pug they'll throw him in the ring with.
Bryant Jennings Can Re-Ignite the American Heavyweight Scene
The Heavyweight division continues to be much ado about nothing outside of the Kiltschkos, but watching Bryant Jennings tear up Sergei Liakhovich last weekend impressed me greatly, and looking at the Heavyweight picture right now, I can say that the US is making a comeback. Malik Scott, Seth Mitchell and Jennings are making their presence felt in the division, whereas division staples Tony Thompson, Eddie Chambers and Cristobal Arreola are also forces to be reckoned with.
I'd favor Jennings and Scott against the likes of Robert Helenius or Tyson Fury, and I certainly can't think of a better fight than the foul-mouthed Arreola versus psychopath Derek Chisora. By the time these younger American Heavyweights make their way to the top, the Klitschkos might be long gone and the division will be a wasteland with these guys scrapping to get to the top. I think that America will have not only a Heavyweight champion soon, but we may have quite a few of them.
Danny Howard can be reached for comments or questions at dhoward@fighthype.com, Facebook, or follow him on Twitter (@DBHOWARD126). Also don't miss an episode of FightHype Radio, the baddest two hours of boxing on the planet, starting at 8pm EST.