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By Chris Williams: Unbeaten WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (42-0, 26 KO’s) is reportedly considering a bout against former two time world champion Sergio Martinez (48-2-2, 27 KO’s) next on May 5th if Manny Pacquiao doesn’t want to step up to the plate and fight him.

Since Pacquiao’s promoter Arum has already come out said they won’t be fighting Mayweather next, it looks if Martinez, 36, is the leading candidate for Mayweather’s next fight, as long as Martinez can get by his next opponent Matthew Macklin (28-3, 19 KO’s) on March 17th.

Mayweather told Yahoo Sports writer Kevin Iole that’s he’s interested in facing Martinez, albeit if the Argentinian star can make it down to 154lbs to make the fight happen. Martinez current fights at 160, but he’s a small middleweight and can probably make 150 if it means a huge payday.

Mayweather won’t be fighting lightweight Robert Guerrero and Saul Alvarez. Mayweather had this to say about a fight with Saul Alvarez in Iole’s column at Yahoo.com “I think Canelo would be a big bout, but I think he needs to get a little more experience under his belt and then eventually we could make that fight happen down the line.”

Mayweather can only fight on May 5th, and legally can’t budge from that date, as that was the date agreed upon by Las Vegas judge Melissa Saragossa when she gave Mayweather a delay in his 90-day jail term from January 6th to June 1st. Mayweather was hoping that Arum would let Pacquiao fight Mayweather on that date, but Arum said “We’d be leaving too much money on the table [if we took that date]. We’d be happy to fight at the end of May.”

Arum is having a 38,000 seat outside auditorium built for Pacquiao’s next fight on June 9th on the Las Vegas strip where the Frontier Hotel used to be located.

Arum wants to make as much money as possible for Pacquiao if and when he fights Mayweather, and this is his reasoning for building the outside stadium, which won’t be completed until the end of May. It certainly makes a lot of sense. However, it also is very convenient for Arum and Pacquiao, because they can then pick an easier mark out for their June 9th fight and Pacquiao can continue winning for at least one more fight if Arum is serious about wanting to match Pacquiao up against Mayweather in November.

Mayweather wants to accomplish big things and isn’t satisfied facing the guys – Timothy Bradley, Lamont Peterson, Miguel Cotto, and Juan Manuel Marquez – that Arum is considering for Paquiao’s next fight. Mayweather wants to do something really special like beating the middleweight division’s best fighter in Sergio Martinez.

Mayweather said this about a potential fight against Martinez: “If Sergio Martinez can make 150, let’s make the fight happen.”