While May 3rd is still quite a ways away, Floyd Mayweather Jr. rarely waits this long to announce an opponent. Still, despite trumpeting Amir Khan and Marcos Maidana as his two choices for his next bout questions are being raised about why there hasn't been any movement or answers.
Rumors circulated over the weekend that there was a deal finalized between the "Money Team" and Maidana, but "El Chino's" camp squelched them on Sunday. "Considering that rumors have been circulating in the last few hours addressing a 'done deal' fight between WBA welterweight champion Marcos Maidana and WBC champ Floyd Mayweather Jr., we want to clarify that those versions are not accurate.
"Maidana is well aware that he is indeed a firm candidate to face Mayweather Jr. next May 3rd, but the fight is far from being made or confirmed as other fighters are still also in the mix. Hopefully, we will have news in the next few days but, in the meantime, we don't want to confuse the fans or the boxing press. Maidana, of course, wants to unify titles with Mayweather, but for now we will have to wait."
Maidana's situation is tricky though, as his most recent opponent Adrien Broner has exercised a rematch clause. Broner wants to fight in April but Maidana said he wouldn't be ready in time. The early May fight doesn't particularly work for his timetable either, but he has said he's willing to sacrifice for a shot at "Money."
Another rumor making the rounds is that Mayweather will choose Khan, and put Broner vs. Maidana on the undercard. Broner and Mayweather are close friends with Broner viewing "Money" as a mentor, so that could play a role in Floyd declining to take Maidana away from him.
As far as the undercard idea goes, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer said it's unlikely. "No, not at all," Schaefer said. "Floyd's fight is not done either. ... I am waiting on Floyd but have a pretty good idea on what's going to happen and what the undercard will look like."
Perhaps the delay in choosing is that neither opponent has piqued the interest of the boxing public, which is might be growing bored of Mayweather's dominance. Floyd could be running a "trick play" of sorts, with an unforeseen opponent in mind.
The only real candidates for that could be middleweight challengers such as Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin, or Gennady "GGG" Golovkin. Or Mayweather could go for the jugular and try to woo Sergio Martinez away from a Miguel Cotto fight in the 12th hour, but that is extremely far-fetched.
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