Floyd Mayweather Jr. is coming off a hard fight with Marcos Maidana, and while the date is set for his next fight, September 13, 2014, the opponent is up in the air as is the location.
Leonard Ellerbe, the chief executive of Mayweather Promotions, indicated that the MGM Grand in Las Vegas is always the first choice but isn't a guarantee. Lately Brooklyn's Barclays Center has come up often alongside Mayweather's name, and Ellerbe was coy in comments to ESPN's Dan Rafael.
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"Floyd will go on Sept. 13 and we looking at who he's going to fight and where he is going to fight," Ellerbe said. "Obviously, Las Vegas is his home and the MGM Grand is always the leading candidate but we will take a look at our other options."
As far as his opponent, the obvious choice is Maidana. Unlike the location, there is no clear Plan B either. While The Money Team expressed some frustration at Maidana's roughhouse tactics, which included rabbit punches, head butts and low blows, the other names are either underwhelming or unavailable.
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Amir Khan, who was favored for a Mayweather fight until Maidana stormed into the picture won't be able to fight by September 13 because of Ramadan. Danny Garcia has been brought up previously as an option, but he most recently battled unheralded Mauricio Herrera in Puerto Rico and won by the skin of his teeth. He has also never fought above 140 lbs.
Then there's the fact that Maidana's fighting style engaged Floyd in his most difficult fight in years. That could work in his favor, although even Ellerbe noted the extracurricular stuff was alarming.
"He's [Maidana] definitely in the mix. He's a very dirty fighter. He used a lot of dirty tactics, but Floyd handled him easily and he gave the fans a great fight. But there's a long list of opponents. Everybody wants to be in the Floyd Mayweather sweepstakes. Several guys have made it clear they want to be next," Ellerbe said.
A dark horse candidate could be Keith "One Time" Thurman, a true knockout artist whose name is rapidly rising. He's not a household name yet, though, and is likely going to face "Showtime" Shawn Porter his next time out. Do not be surprised if the winner eventually gets Floyd down the road.
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