Mayweather better not blow this opportunity

Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s career seemed to be stalled only days ago. His monster fight against Manny Pacquiao had fallen apart over drug testing and, it seemed, he could find no prospective opponent capable of stirring the imagination.

Now, suddenly, he has another golden opportunity within his grasp.

A distraught Andre Berto pulled out of his Jan. 30 fight against Shane Mosley because of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, his parents’ homeland. That left Mosley without an opponent but raised the fascinating possibility of another huge fight – this one between Mayweather and Mosley.

Richard Schaefer, who represents both fighters, immediately went to work on the event and was optimistic that it would happen either May 1 or 8 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The fight is a no-brainer for Mosley, who has lobbied hard for a big-money fight against one of the two biggest attractions in boxing -- Pacquiao or Mayweather. He knows that such opportunities are rare, particularly for 38 year olds. The clock is ticking.

The matchup is also perfect for Mayweather on many levels.

“Money” stood to make upwards of $40 million against Pacquiao, which is a lot of cash to give up. He probably won’t make that kind of money against Mosley but at least half that and probably more is realistic. $25 million? $30 million? We're talking a healthy payday.

He also lost an opponent in Pacquiao who virtually everyone agreed posed a legitimate threat in the ring, something Mayweather’s critics will tell you he normally avoids. Some experts believe Mosley, a natural welterweight with vast experience and quick hands, would give Mayweather even more trouble than Pacquiao would’ve.

Mayweather could wave the signed contract in the faces of his detractors and say with some justification, “Now leave me alone, jerks.”

And, to be sure, Mayweather-Mosley is a bigger fight than Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey because Mosley is so much bigger than Clottey. That’s one more incentive: Mayweather would have one up on his Filipino rival.

So the bottom line is this: Mayweather lost an enormous fight but had another one fall into his lap. He would earn a fortune, at least temporarily eliminate fodder for his persistent critics and become bigger than ever if he beats a future hall of famer in Mosley.

It’s a win, win, win situation. How can he pass this up?

Well, if anyone can screw this up, it’s probably Mayweather. I can see him getting overly greedy and insisting upon a ridiculous percentage of the profits or making over-the-top demands, as some have suggested he did by asking for random drug testing with Pacquiao.

Again, Mosley will do almost anything to make this fight happen – he was willing to go down to 140 pounds to fight Pacquiao, for example -- but even he will have his limits.

Or I can see Mayweather, he of the mammoth ego, saying what he’s alluding to in the past: “Why should I give Mosley this opportunity after he refused to give me the same opportunity when he was on top and I was coming up?”

I doubt that thought would become an insurmountable obstacle -- Mayweather’s ego will be stroked by the larger piece of the pie -- but it will have crossed his mind.

Mayweather and his handlers surely understand that he is remarkably fortunate to be in this position after the Pacquiao debacle. They’ve been given another chance at something that comes along only rarely, an event that will pique the interest of even casual sports fans.

Their mission is an easy one: Take advantage of the opportunity. Sign the contract. If Mayweather somehow blows a second shot at a mega-fight -- and ends up in the ring with some pushover -- he will experience a torrent of criticism he could never have imagined.


Michael Rosenthal can be reached at RingTVeditor@yahoo.com