Will Mayweather fight a rematch with Mosley rather than face Pacquiao?

By Eric Thomas: Floyd Mayweather Jr. is going to be getting a big payday against Shane Mosley in their May 1st bout, no matter what happens in the fight. There’s a rematch clause built into the contract in the event that Mayweather loses the fight, Mosley will have to give him an immediate rematch rather than moving on to a mega fight against Manny Pacquiao. Now Mayweather is talking about perhaps fighting a rematch with Mosley even if he beats him.

So instead of Mayweather moving on and trying to line up a fight with Pacquiao, he’s talking about fighting another big money fight against Mosley. Pacquiao would then have to wait a six months to a year before Mayweather would be free to fight him, provided that he beats Mosley for a second time. Mayweather says he only fights once a year, so it’s likely that Pacquiao would have to cool his jets for at least a year before he’d be able to fight Mayweather.

That might be asking a lot of Pacquiao since there really isn’t too many opponents out there in the welterweight division for him to fight other than Andre Berto. Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum would like to match Pacquiao with fellow Top Rank fighter Antonio Margarito, but that’s a fight that might never happen if Margarito doesn’t get his boxing license back.

Would Pacquiao be willing to wait around for a year or maybe more for Mayweather if there’s no one interesting for him to fight? Pacquiao is talking retirement now, and has serious political ambitions as well. It would seem that Mayweather is assuming a lot by making Pacquiao wait around for such a long time.

On one hand, Pacquiao might retire and move on. And you never know whether the boxing public will still be interested in seeing Pacquiao-Mayweather a year or more from now. Mayweather could really stink up the joint in two fights against Mosley and Pacquiao might look equally bad against someone as well. And there’s always the chance that both Mayweather and Pacquiao could get beat. It’s highly unlikely with their talent, but it’s possible. Both of them are over 30, and anything can happen once you start getting up there in age.