Boxing legend Floyd “Money” Mayweather’s recent fight last February in the United Kingdom against Aaron Chalmers may not have been the most interesting or entertaining fight of his career (after all, the O2 Arena was basically empty), but Mayweather’s loyal audience as well as boxing fans as a whole usually end up showing up when Mayweather faces off against someone they feel can actually give the pound-for-pound champion a run for his money (no pun intended).
Floyd Mayweather via The Pivot Podcast YouTube
Here are some of the top four potential fights that Mayweather has either given some attention to possibly taking part in, and others that fans feel would be well worth the price of a decent pay-per-view exhibition.
Jose Aldo
The former featherweight UFC champion and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu extraordinaire straight out of Brazil has attempted in the last several years to take his interest in boxing to the professional level.
Recently, Aldo faced off against former MMA rival Jeremy Stephens in the ring as the two former UFC fighters faced off at Gamebred Boxing 4 as part of the main card. Surprisingly though, the bout resulted in a draw for both Aldo and Stephens, shocking many in the audience, but especially Aldo who stated that after rewatching the fight in his locker room, felt he was the true winner of the match.
While Aldo had been in discussions to face off against Floyd Mayweather for a potential fight in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, since his draw with Stephens, he’s been more reluctant to take on the patriarch of the Money Team as his next opponent.
“Ali [Abdelaziz] had already negotiated with [Mayweather’s] staff and it was agreed with the Saudi people, to the sheik,” Aldo said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “But I think they’re liking what I’m showing in boxing and it’s creating a euphoria to aim at bigger things as well. We’re not past the idea of boxing Mayweather, it might happen, but we have other plans first.”
Jose Aldo via TheMacLife YouTube
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Aldo added that he wants to work his way up the rankings just like any other boxer starting from ground zero, intending to “start against easier opponents and earn experience until you get there,” he added. “But given the name I have, it’s hard to take the same path as everybody else does. We’re trying to choose the right fight.”
In regards to his fight with Stephens, Aldo remarked that “Jeremy was way heavier than me now. I was at 157 pounds when I went to the arena on fight night and he was over 177. There was a huge difference.”
“A soon as the fight ended, Ali said we won, but we had to fight on the right weight class. I’ll fight at 140. But since new opportunities have come around in boxing, maybe this Mayweather match will have to wait a little bit.”
Jake Paul
Yes, I know, a lot of you are probably already laughing at this idea because there are only two types of people it seems when it comes to Jake Paul; you either absolutely hate him and diss everything he does, or you’re like me and you actually buy the pay-per-views because you find watching a former Disney kid fight older MMA fighters entertaining.
Jake Paul via Top Rank Boxing YouTube
The odd back and fourth between Jake Paul, who after coming off his recent defeat against British boxer Tommy Fury has now announced he’ll be gloving up against former MMA fighter Nate Diaz this August, and Mayweather has been going on for several years now.
It seemed to have started back in 2021 when Jake was riding his older brother Logan Paul’s boxing exploits to grow his own boxing profile. During a promotional event Mayweather vs Paul, a viral moment was made that has since defined the relationship between Mayweather and Paul. The two run into each other, begin smack talking each other as Jake is trying to hype up Logan (who wasn’t yet there), and as the two get into each other’s faces, Logan decides to steal and run off with Mayweather’s hat.
Since then, they seemed to have mostly ignored each other until March when they something weird happened outside of a Miami Heat game where the two just so happened to be.
Footage shows Mayweather and his Money Team approaching Jake Paul, calling him out, and out of nowhere Paul just starts darting off in the other direction. According to Paul on an episode of his podcast “BS W/ Jake Paul” following the incident, Paul claims he escaped the situation because he felt he was being set up for a violent altercation.
“We’re walking and, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, Floyd’s right there with nine people in a straight wall,” he said. “Then boom, another car is right there. These dudes slowly started to create this sort of surrounding barrier around me to kind of close me in. They attacked at the right time because there was a wall behind me.
“It was like a full-on Army Delta Force on a mission,” Paul continued. “I felt like a Spartan for one second, but then I just realized it wasn’t possible.”
Paul later challenged Mayweather to a one-on-one match, but said that Mayweather wouldn’t do so out of fear of losing.
“That’s a fact. His team has hit my team numerous times to do one of his ‘exhibitions’. Now he amuses me. Come see me in the ring, real fight, no exhibition robbing fans bulls***.”
Nate Diaz
Diaz is already going to be facing off with Jake Paul in August as mentioned previously. The interesting thing about this fight is that it’ll show us how far Diaz plans to go as a boxer since his plans as a fighter and a promoter both seem to be a little all over the place.
While promoting the fight with Paul, he mentioned he intended to ‘conquer’ the world of boxing while also returning to the UFC. Now those goals aren’t impossible but as someone who is no longer under contract with the UFC, it seems weird he’d want to return since he spent more than a year essentially calling Dana white and the league slave owners. He also basically crowned Paul the most entertaining man in boxing, which basically undermines the existence of major professional boxers such as Canelo Alvarez, Tyson Fury, and even Floyd Mayweather. The last two he didn’t even mention by the way.
Nate Diaz via ESPN MMA YouTube
“Besides Canelo,” Diaz said, “he’s [Jake Paul] the biggest thing in boxing. I’m here to conquer that. I’m the King of combat sports and then I’m headed back to get my UFC belts.”
Wouldn’t fighting Floyd Mayweather be a real attempt at ‘conquering’ boxing? I mean, Paul didn’t even beat professional boxer Tommy Fury when they faced off in February, and that was the only legitimate boxer he has actually ever faced.
Even MMA legend Chael Sonnen six months ago added fuel to the concept that a Diaz vs Mayweather fight is within the realm of possibility after hearing about potential discussions to coordinate a match between the two.
A Mayweather vs Diaz fight would be a true clash between two legitimate legends in the world of boxing and MMA. But if Diaz loses his fight against Paul though in August, should he even think about getting into the ring with the likes of Floyd Mayweather? One can wonder at least since nothing is out of the realm of possibility in the world of combat sports.
Conor McGregor Part II
Now we’re getting into the realm of rematches and old grudges. Back in 2022, Mayweather himself stated that there were already plans to do a second fight with UFC fighter Conor McGregor, who he defeated in Las Vegas in 2017, but this time it would be in 2023 in Saudi Arabia.
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“We don’t know if it’s going to be a real fight or an exhibition,” Mayweather told the press back in November of 2022. “There’s been talk of both. I would prefer an exhibition. I am not into fights where I am going to take any real punishment.”
“Guys like Conor McGregor and guys that don’t really hit hard such as YouTubers or UFC guys, I don’t really mind colliding with those kinds of individuals.”
It seems at least fans didn’t mind either the last time the two fought in Vegas since their fight became the second largest pay-per-view event in history. Strangely though, despite having made $130 million from that fight alone, McGregor went to Instagram shortly after Mayweather’s statement and seemed to pan the idea of a sequel fight.
Still though, money is money and neither man is getting any younger.
Who would you like to see Floyd Mayweather face in the ring? Who did I leave out who should have been added? Let us know in the comments below and across social media.