By Kenneth Friedman: Floyd Mayweather Jr. is posting on social media his training for what some fans believe is going to be a comeback against either Conor McGregor or Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2020 or 2021. Mayweather hasn’t trained with this kind of consistent basis since he beat McGregor in 2017.
The effort that the former five-division world champion Mayweather is putting in is a big hint that he will be returning soon to the ring for another pay-per-view fight. Although Mayweather is 43, his speed and physical ability is that of a fighter ten years younger. He’s like someone in their early 30s. Mayweather is like Benjamin Button, and seemingly aging backward.
Mayweather has a lot of options if he does come back in 2020 or 2021. These are the likely possibilities for Floyd:
- Manny Pacquiao
- Conor McGregor
- Khabib Nurmagomedov
Big money to be had for Floyd
Mayweather can make MASSIVE money if he faces McGregor and Khabib on the same night, which something that he reportedly is interested in.
In Mayweather’s 16 fights on pay-per-view, he’s generated $1.7 billion with 24 million PPV buys. With that kind of track record, it’s not surprising that Mayweather gets over $100 million each time he fights. But when or if Floyd does come back, he needs big names like McGregor, Khabib, or Pacquiao to fight to generate the big cash. He’s not going to bring in big bank by challenging some of the top boxers in the sport right now.
Although some boxing fans would be interested in seeing Mayweather fight Canelo Alvarez again, that fight probably wouldn’t do the kind of numbers that a Pacquiao, McGregor, or Khabib fight would.
Canelo has been involved in too many controversial conflicts, and the fans would likely not be excited at seeing Mayweather face him again. Mayweather already beat Canelo by a one-sided 12 round decision in 2013, and that performance was enough to where fans won’t want to see a rematch.
For Floyd, he needs boxing to restart in 2020 because he can’t be sitting on the shelf for yet another year. Mayweather hadn’t fought since August 2017 when he stopped McGregor in the 10th round. If Mayweather doesn’t fight until 2021, that would be a four-year layoff.
It’s not a big deal for Mayweather to beat the likes of McGregor or Khabib coming off four years of inactivity, but it would be a different story if he faces Pacquiao. The Filipino star is still fighting at a very high level at 41, and he might have too much in the tank for the ring-rusty Mayweather to beat.
Pacquiao the better choice for Mayweather
Boxing fans would prefer to see Mayweather take on Pacquiao again, as they’re more familiar with him than they are Khabib or McGregor. Additionally, people would be more inclined to order a fight between Mayweather and Manny because they would see it as a more competitive match-up than if he faces a UFC fighter. Boxing and MMA are two different sports.
It doesn’t work out well when Mayweather faces MMA guys in boxing events. The contests are too one-sided, and it’s difficult or some fans to envision plunking down $100 to watch Mayweather fight one of those fights.
With that said, it would be interesting if Mayweather fought Khabib and McGregor on the same night because that would potentially put him at risk of losing. He could get cut up in the first fight, and be at a disadvantage in the second one.
The last tough fight that Mayweather has had was his rematch with Marcos Maidana in September 2014. Mayweather won the contest by a 12 round decision, but it was a difficult match due to the pressure the hard-punching Maidana put on him.
Mayweather’s record is 50-0, 27 KOs).