Even in a rematch with Pacquiao, it is doubtful that Mayweather will break his own record against the eight-division world titlist unless he knocks out or scores a very convincing win against his next opponent and Pacquiao does the same in a tune-up fight for a possible rematch.
Mayweather is all set for his retirement fight on Sept. 12 against an opponent that is yet to be named. But his handlers have reportedly sounded off British fighter Amir Khan for his Sept. 12 fight.
“Khan has claimed that the manager of the unbeaten Mayweather approached him at the MGM Grand Garden Arena after the fight to “get it on” this year. The fighter’s trainer and father, Floyd Mayweather Snr, called the Briton “an easy opponent,” Gareth Davies of the Telegraph writes.
It is doubtful though that Khan can commit to the Sept. 12 fight date which has already been set by Mayweather.
“I can’t be ready for that date. Ramadan doesn’t finish until the end of July and I would need three months in training camp after that to prepare for a fight of this magnitude. The earliest I can be back in the ring after my fight here is late October or early November and that will have to be against another opponent,” said Khan, who has just beaten Chris Algieri via a unanimous decision. Read more:
Another possible opponent is former foe Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico. Mayweather and Marquez have fought in 2009 with Mayweather winning via a unanimous decision.
It is likely that Mayweather will pick Marquez given the situation that Khan is facing difficult time to decide in relation to his observance of Ramadan.
Informed of Mayweather’s interest on a possible rematch, Marquez has declared his availability for the proposed fight but he said there are conditions that should apply.
“If the fight is proposed and the conditions are acceptable, then of course [I would do it]. But we all know how things are done when fighting Mayweather in Las Vegas. In that city the officials protect him, let him do everything. Fighting him is a burden,” Marquez said.
Pacquiao’s former strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza, who is now Mayweather’s conditioning coach said that Marquez is now favoring a Mayweather- Marquez rematch saying that the Mexican counter-puncher is now a full-fledged welterweight with the help of ‘Memo’ Heredia, who serves as Marquez conditioning coach.
Ariza shares Marquez’ promoter Fernando Beltran’s thoughts on the proposed fight saying, “obviously we would love to fight Mayweather because while they fought each other already, it took place under very adverse conditions and now things would be different.”
In their first ring encounter in 2009, Mayweather and Marquez made 1.1 million in PPV buys, a negligible figure compared to the 4.4 million that Mayweather and Pacquiao made last May 2.
If Khan can adjust to the fight date that Mayweather prefers by compressing his training period to less than two months, the fight could generate probably half of the record-breaking PPV buys that Mayweather and Pacquiao have generated.
The proposed Mayweather-Khan fight should be able to generate more PPV buys than the planned Marquez rematch as it has been widely talked about in social media during the negotiations for the last Mayweather-Maidana rematch.
Khan believes that if the fight is held at the Wembley in England, it could generate even more revenue and PPV buys.
Mayweather has a huge fan base in UK and holding the fight there could bring substantial revenue for the fight. But it is doubtful if it could even generate at least half of the PPV buys of the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight last May.
