One of the greatest boxers of all time, if not the greatest, Floyd “Money” Mayweather took to social media on November 21 to announce that he will be making a return to action in 2020.
There were already rumors swirling after the 50-0 boxer was seen sitting next to UFC president Dana White courtside at the Boston Celtics-Los Angeles Clippers game earlier in the week. Posting the picture of himself and White, Mayweather said the two were working together again and, of course, the last time the two collaborated on an event saw the massive payday of McGregor vs Mayweather.
Online sportsbook Sportsbook has released odds on who Mayweather will dance with next and in what organization that bout will take place. The favorite for his next opponent is Manny Pacquiao at +200 followed by Georges St-Pierre at +400, Khabib Nurmagomedov at +450 and you can find the rematch with Conor McGregor at +1000. Meanwhile, the boxing ring is the favorite at +200 followed by UFC at +300, RIZIN at +5000, and Bare Knuckle FC and ONE Championship both at +10000.
Mayweather’s Next Opponent
This is a tricky one, for sure. For this to be a successful fight, Floyd needs to fight someone with a name that will draw eyes, but he isn’t going to take a bout that puts his perfect record in jeopardy, in my opinion. Manny Pacquiao is favored on the list and last year when Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez had their rematch, Mayweather announced that night that he was going to rematch Pac-Man later that year, but the fight never came to fruition. Instead, we did see Money last New Year’s Eve in Japan when he dismantled Tenshin Nasukawa in a first-round knockout exhibition match.
Meanwhile, Pacquiao is having a resurgence of sorts in his career, riding his first three-fight win streak in five years, including winning the WBA welterweight title and earning victories over Adrien Broner and Keith Thurman. Does this fight make sense? Yes. News also came out earlier this week that Pacquiao is eyeing a return to the ring in early 2020 with his sights on Danny Garcia or Mikey Garcia, but a Mayweather fight would be much more lucrative.
As for some of the other names on the list (GSP, Khabib, Canelo), I don’t see any of these fights happening as St-Pierre has his sights set on Khabib. The lightweight champ, Nurmagomedov, has Tony Ferguson slated for early 2020 and a win would likely lead to the GSP bout. As for Canelo, we know that he would take the fight in an instant to avenge his loss. That said, there’s no way Floyd is playing that fight back as it wouldn’t end well for him. The McGregor fight is on the table and I’ll explain a little more on that below.
| Opponent | Odds |
|---|---|
| Manny Pacquiao | +200 |
| Georges St-Pierre | +400 |
| Khabib Nurmagomedov | +450 |
| Canelo Alvarez | +1000 |
| Conor McGregor | +1000 |
| Dana White | +10000 |
Odds as of November 22 at Sportsbook
Which Sport or Promotion will Floyd Next Compete in?
Boxing or UFC? A blend of the two may be the correct answer. The parent company of the UFC, Zuffa, has been looking into creating a boxing promotion and has held meetings with Al Haymon on acquiring Premier Boxing Champions. Some notable boxers under the PBC banner are WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, WBA featherweight champion Leo Santa Cruz and WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo.
Having Floyd Mayweather headline the first Zuffa Boxing event makes a lot of sense on many levels and that’s where I see the fight taking place. McGregor plans on making a big comeback of his own in 2020, with his sights set on a rematch with Nurmagomedov, but another big payday in a rematch with Mayweather could potentially take place. More likely, though, Mayweather will have a beatable opponent and he will just carry the card on his name alone, but I hope I’m wrong.
| Sportsbook | Odds |
|---|---|
| Boxing | +200 |
| UFC | +300 |
| RIZIN | +5000 |
| Bare Knuckle FC | +10000 |
| ONE Championship | +10000 |
Odds as of November 22 at Sportsbook
