WBA welterweight champion Marcos Maidana says that he and his team hasn’t been contacted about a potential unification bout against WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 3rd. While there have been speculation that Mayweather might choose to fight the popular Maidana rather than Amir Khan, it’s not happened as of yet, according to Maidana. He’s clear that he wants the fight with Mayweather, but he’s not going to chase him and push for the fight like some other fighters have done recently.
It’s thought that Mayweather is making a decision about whether to fight Khan or Maidana. Khan was considered to be the guy that was going to get the fight next early on, but Maidana put himself in the forefront with his victory over little Mayweather, Adrien Broner, and that could be the thing that is causing Mayweather and his team to lag on making the decision about his next fight.
WBO light welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov (23-2, 16 KO’s) thinks he has a good chance of being the next opponent for Manny Pacquiao (55-5-2, 38 KO’s) on April 12th in Las Vegas, Nevada. Provodnikov says he didn’t want the fight originally, but he’s changed his mind about it and he’s willing to fight Pacquiao in April.
There had been talk of Roy Jones Jr. fighting former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in a boxing match in what likely would have been a terrible mismatch due to Jones’ superior skills. However, the chances of a fight between Silva and Jones Jr. would seem remote at best at this time following Anderson Silva’s gruesome left leg injury he suffered last night against UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman in UFC 168 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Silva attempted a leg kick with his left leg, but Weidman blocked it with his left knee causing Silva’s left shin to fold in two.
British fight promoter Frank Warren listed a number of fights that he would like to see take place in 2014, and one which is potential math-up between James DeGale (17-1, 11 KO’s) and the unbeaten middleweight #4 WBO, #11 IBF, #11 WBC, #15 WBA, Billy Joe Saunders (19-0, 10 KO’s). Warren sees this as a good fight that would do well in the UK in terms of making money and pleasing the fans.
WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley (31-0, 12 KO’s) really lucked out last year when he was given a controversial 12 round split decision over Manny Pacquiao (55-5-2, 38 KO’s) in Las Vegas, Nevada. Few people believe that Bradley won that fight, and he’s seen by many fans as a paper champion because of the win that was given to him.
If George Groves (19-1, 15 KO’s) is going to get a rematch against IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch (32-2, 23 KO’s), then it’s probably going to take a change of tactics for him to get Froch to start showing interest in giving him a second chance.
If Marcos Maidana ends up being the one that faces Floyd Mayweather Jr. in his next pay-per-view bout on Showtime on May 3rd, Sergio Martinez sees Mayweather as having problems in trying to beat him. Sergio, a tough fighter from Argentina, thinks Maidana won’t be an easy out for Mayweather if he chooses to face him.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. wants to rebuild little Mayweather [Adrien Broner] by keeping him away from Marcos Maidana, by moving him down to 140, and having him fight on his next pay-per-view card on May 3rd. Mayweather thinks Broner can be brought back to his former status as one of boxing’s youngest up and coming stars, but he feels that he needs to be in the right weight class. If Broner can win a world title at 140 against someone like IBF light welterweight champion Lamont Peterson, Broner would be a 4 division world champion.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. said this past week that he won’t bother fighting Manny Pacquiao as long as he’s still being promoted by Bob Arum of Top Rank. Mayweather simply doesn’t want to work with Arum for some reason. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer is coming out saying that there won’t be a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight until Pacquiao is no longer with Top Rank.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is going to need to look in another direction for his fighter Manny Pacquiao for his April 12th fight in Las Vegas, because Juan Manuel Marquez has his mind made up about not wanting to fight Pacquiao again.