Boxing, in it’s current form, is driven forward and hopefully upwards by big fights, the biggest possible. At the current situation, it’s obvious that any big fight should involve Floyd Mayweather Jr. But against who? Not Manny Pacquiao, not anymore. Sergio Martinez, before he becomes a bit too old for this s^%&, needs to be the next on the list.

Because Mayweather doesn’t have too much left for him to do in the world of boxing. He’s all about making the most available cash from the shortlist of fights he’s willing to get into. Hand picked opponents that he knows he can beat, that he’s spotted a weakness in them. What do we know about his next fights? That he’s going to have two lined up in 2013, probably one in May and one in September. Anything else? All speculations.

So if we’re going to speculate  lets speculate big. The popular opinion about Mayweather’s next opponent says that Saul Alvarez, Canelo, is going to be one of them, probably in September. Before? Probably Robert Guerrero, the current interim WBC welterweight champion. It seems that the fight, scheduled for May 4th, 2013, at the MGM Grand, is nearly done. This makes it very reasonable that Canelo is the next man lined up for the winner of that fight.

But Alvarez, despite being the hottest young name in boxing (41-0-1) at the age of 22 and the current WBC Light Middleweight Champion and a huge fight, maybe the biggest one possible aside from Pacquiao when it comes to money, isn’t the biggest fish out there. If Mayweather cares about comfort in the ring and the paycheck at the end of the fight from the PPV, Alvarez is probably the way to go. But the numbers for a fight with Sergio Martinez shouldn’t be too far behind, and will be much bigger to Mayweather’s legacy.

Because Martinez is higher on the Pound-4-Pound scale than anyone but Andre Ward and Mayweather for good reason. He’s cleaned the Middleweight division and this year finally got the big fight he wanted, beating Julio Cesar Chavez in a very entertaining fight. He’s not too far from 40, and he would like a big fight, meaning lots of money, to put on his resume before he hangs up his gloves. He’s got a fight lined up in Argentina next, his first in his home country since 2002, later moving to Spain and for the past five years, the United States.

Hey, even if the two don’t meet in 2013, no one said it isn’t possible in 2014. But the sooner the better. The Manny Pacquiao fight won’t happen, or probably won’t. Even if it will, despite all the money it’s going to generate, it won’t mean a shred of what it should and could have if it would have happened 18 months ago, not to mention sooner. Martinez, probably more inclined to get a fight done with Mayweather, isn’t going to stay so impressive in the ring forever.

There’s no problem with the catchweight, and there’s no problem with the money. Martinez is fighting at 160, but that’s above his walking weight. He already said he’ll have no problem going down to 154, 153, 152, whatever is necessary. Floyd Mayweather has no problem fighting at Light Middleweight. Martinez will set a new record for him, no matter the deal he takes from Mayweather. Money isn’t an issue.

The issue, as always, is Floyd. What’s the first thing on his mind – money or legacy? He keeps saying he wants to entertain the fans and do what they want, but that’s only after fights he wins. Before? It’s all about making money while keeping the fights at minimum risk. He doesn’t have much time left in the boxing rings as well. As much as his 0 on the loss column means to him, it will only do him good if he steps into the ring with Sergio Martinez, regardless of the result.