By James Slater – The last time he fought, Floyd Mayweather Junior – who turns 34 today – looked as fast, as masterful and as in control as ever (save for a scare in the 2nd-round of his fight with “Sugar” Shane Mosley.) However, the 41-0 great has now reached the age where fighters, no matter how special, can start to slow down, even deteriorate. The legendary Sugar Ray Leonard, for example, another fighter who took long layoffs between fights, became beatable when he hit age 34. Getting knocked down more and more, Leonard was eventually able to defeat a decent if not great Donny Lalonde only after getting up from a nasty trip to the floor, while during this period he was unable to win over Terry Norris and (shockingly, though a good few years after he’d turned 34) Hector Camacho..
Who knows, as good as Floyd looked last May against the even older Mosley, maybe he too will find he is more vulnerable to punches when he next fights – if he ever does, that is. And that’s the question: as he sits today in his plush mansion, or as he celebrates in some glitzy night spot or other, is “Money” even thinking about fighting again once his legal issues have been resolved? And if he is thinking of returning to the ring at age 34 or beyond; who is he thinking of facing in the squared circle?
Via his Twitter account, Mayweather has dropped hints suggesting he will fight again. Not only that, but the hints give us hope that he will fight against the one man we all want to see him fight against: Manny Pacquiao.
“I got one more country to conquer,” Mayweather said on a home-made video yesterday. Judging by the smile and the wink he gave, Floyd was talking about The Philippines. But has Mayweather left it too late if he really is intending to face the formidable, lightening-fast southpaw dynamo? Can Floyd, at age 34, beat a 32-year-old and far more active Manny? We all want to find out, of course, and the welterweight showdown would capture the attention of the whole world.
But supposing Mayweather was hoping Pac-Man would begin to slow a little by the time he was into his thirties; will he be feeling disappointed that this hasn’t happened? And will this leave him even more reluctant to make the fight?
Referring again to Ray Leanord: Sugar waited until he saw a definite degree of deterioration in the man he knew in his heart he’d have to beat for his career to be complete; and as things turned out, his mega-fight with Marvellous Marvin Hagler came at the perfect time for him. Mayweather may or may not have too much time left in which he can debate with himself whether or not he should fight Pacquiao.