Mayweather Fighting On March 13th? Believe It When You See It

GBP is leaking reports that Floyd Mayweather Jr. will also be fighting on March 13 of this year – the same night Manny Pacquiao will take on Joshua Clottey. As usual with Mayweather there is no opponent yet named, but you can bet your bottom dollar it'll be a fighter who has no chance whatsoever to beat him and Mayweather will be an overwhelming favorite to win.

It must be tough being Floyd Mayweather so far this year. He's tried to discredit Pacquiao – and what does Manny do? He takes a fight with another opponent who's more dangerous than any opponent Mayweather has ever fought in 14 years as a pro. Maybe this time Floyd is really shoveling dirt onto his own grave? Is he crazy? If he and Pacquiao both fought Slow Joe from Idaho on the same night, Pacquiao's fight would do better PPV numbers.

Who in the hell would pay to see Mayweather fight another no-hope opponent on the same night Pacquiao fights a real fighter? Not only is Pacquiao-Clottey a real fight between two top welterweights, Pacquiao is not a lock to come out victorious. Mayweather, on the other hand will most likely be taking part in nothing more than a high profile exhibition, with the fans coming away knowing nothing more about Floyd the fighter than is already known. That being he looks like Sugar Ray Leonard or Ezzard Charles every time out against B or C level opposition.

What's more is Mayweather will get killed at the gate and will once again be upstaged by Pacquiao in and out of the ring. This will in-turn, provided Pacquiao gets by Clottey, give Manny even more of a stranglehold over the negotiations for a proposed fight between them. Which of course will only make a fight between them that much more difficult to make.

Mayweather's desperate move to prove he's boxing biggest draw looks here to be more like career suicide. After Pacquiao's one sided victory over Miguel Cotto in his last fight, boxing fans would rather watch Pacquiao hit the heavy bag in the gym than watch Mayweather fight. Obviously team Mayweather played the boxing public for the last time when he stacked the deck against Juan Manuel Marquez this past September.

The only fight the boxing public–excluding avid Mayweather fans–wants to see Floyd partake in is against Pacquiao. And it's not hard to assume that the powers that be at Golden Boy Productions are well aware of this too. That's why it's hard to take the rumors that Mayweather will fight another set up on the night of Pacquiao-Clottey seriously until we see Floyd in the ring on the night of March 13, 2010.

Since the night Manny Pacquiao stopped Miguel Cotto in the 12th round of their bout, Mayweather has done everything in his power to unintentionally expose just who he really is. And that's a jealous, insecure man with HOF boxing skills who has a manufactured undefeated record, the type you'd expect from the next hot prospect fighting for a title. When it comes to stepping up and fighting a real opponent, Mayweather goes in a different direction, such as when he was offered to fight Antonio Margarito, only to fight Carlos Baldomir.

If Floyd wants to get some of the props he thinks he deserves he should step up and fight Pacquiao for his title with no gimmicks. With each passing day that goes by and team Mayweather tries to come up with a new trick or gimmick hoping to get over on Pacquiao and the boxing public, he embarrasses himself more. Never in the history of the sweet science has a supposed all-time great resorted to so many childish games and antics trying to rain on the parade of another fighter who he'll be measured against historically. When in reality all he'd have to do is get in the ring with the former flyweight champ and get the better of him for 36 minutes. That's all it would take and then critics like myself could say Floyd Mayweather Jr. fought one great fighter and beat him. And for that he must get his due props.

However, Mayweather lacks the fortitude and gumption that Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez, Juan Diaz, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, and Joshua Clottey had before and after they fought Pacquiao. Floyd must literally marvel inside when he thinks that Barrera and Marquez fought Pacquiao twice and Morales was bold enough to do it three times – and he did it when he was well past his prime.

If by chance Mayweather fights the likes of a Matthew Hatton or Paulie Malignaggi on the same night Pacquiao meets Clottey and you are a boxing fan who actually pays to see it, may I kindly suggest shock-therapy?

Frank Lotierzo can be contacted at GlovedFist@Gmail.com