Floyd Mayweather Says He Might Fight Devon Alexander

Devon Alexander – You thought it was going to be Robert Guerrero versus Floyd Mayweather on May 4. Then maybe Canelo Alvarez. No, no, Guerrero for sure. Maybe we’ll get the announcement at the Super Bowl, maybe right before Beyonce goes on at halftime. But wait, it’s Floyd, he likes to mess with us, stir it up, switch it up, make us talk, stay relevant…

“The negotiations for my fight are almost done. The front runner is IBF Champion Devon Alexander. It’d be a unification bout at welterweight,” Mayweather Tweeted at midnight, leaving us to mutter and chatter on Twitter about what this all means.

First thought…is Guerrero going to again lose out again on a shot at Mayweather? He was supposed to meet Floyd in May 2012, and thought he had the gig secured. His crew thought it was in the bag…until it wasn’t. Miguel Cotto got the fight, much to Guerrero’s surprise. It seemed a foregone conclusion that Guerrero had it sewed up for real this time, when Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy, who’d promote along with Mayweather, said on Jan. 23 that it was merely a matter of dotting some Is and crossing Ts on contracts and that the fight would be announced within a week. That came and went, and now a new name popped up. Alexander hadn’t been in the mix–and really, who the heck knows but a hallowed few if he really, truly is or this is a negotiating tactic, a public spanking, a message to get Guerrero  to drop his asking price–until Floyd said he was. In fact, he’d been slated to meet up with Kell Brook on Feb. 23, until Alexander pulled out, claiming a bicep injury. I say “claiming” because it is always wise to wait and see if another shoe drops…and it looks like maybe the other shoe might be a droppin.’ I don’t like to tip toward the too cynical, but this is a vicious business, inside and outside the ring, and if someone gets a better offer even though they’ve accepted another offer, sometimes they take it, decency be damned, because it’s hard to pass up the opportunity of a lifetime, never mind some added zeroes on the check. I try to withhold judgment on such matters, because we aren’t sure how’d we react in the same situation…

And also…contracts aren’t always able to be wriggled out from. Brook’s promoter is Eddie Hearn, maybe the hottest promoter in the UK right now, and he told TSS he’s keen on enforcing the contract between Brook and IBF champ Alexander. Brook is the IBF’s mandatory challenger, got that slot by beating Hector Saldivia, and Hearn wants to keep it that way. Now, could Brook be pur$uaded to step aside, wait a bit, or maybe get a mollification fee if promised the winner? Stranger things have happened…

A call to Devon’s trainer-advisor Kevin Cunningham, to get details on the (supposed?) injury wasn’t returned, so I wasn’t able to properly assess the legitimacy or lack thereof of the bicep scapegoat.

Which brings us back to Mayweather-Alexander; I think Alexander could present a stiffer test to Floyd than Guerrero, because of his mobility. Could the lefty present problems for the to-be-turning-36-on-Feb. 24 Floyd who likes to conserve energy these days more than he did a few days ago, by staying flat footed? Maybe so. Would Guerrero perhaps be easier to dissect, more predictable because he tends to advance in a straight line more so than play the cutie like Devon does? Perhaps. Would Devon’s back story be as compelling a sell as Guerrero’s? No. Has Devon been in more fights that didn’t leave viewers enthralled? Yes. Do more people question Devon’s heart, rightly or wrongly, than Guerrero’s? Undoubtedly. Will you watch Floyd regardless of who he picks? Undoubtedly. Does Floyd have us keyboard tappers in the palm of his hand. As always.

Floyd Mayweather

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