Having grown tired of not continually being in the spotlight, Floyd Mayweather Jr has signed to fight Victor Ortiz this coming September.

It holds all the necessary ingredients to be a very good fight. Ortiz is coming off a big win against Andre Berto, while Mayweather is climbing back into the ring after a fifteen month absence, presumably to remind us all who the best in the world is.

For a guy who said he came out of retirement because the sport of boxing “needed him”, he sure doesn’t fight all that often. Maybe he’s stepping back into the ring because he realizes what other greats before him learned: the sport waits for no man. Either way, he’s back, and with this announcement, the discussion of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao is tabled once again. This, of course, is inevitable: they are the top two fighters, pound-for-pound, in the sport, and they have yet to meet in the ring to give the fans the answer they crave: who is the best?

Sometimes, the notion of what lies ahead can be so blinding that we fail to see what is right in front of us. Mayweather has been taunting and tantalizing the boxing world with a potential fight with Pacquiao for so long that it almost seems too good to be true. And yet we look ahead, hopeful for what would be the biggest fight in boxing history, and in doing so, we overlook two very good fighters. Their names are Victor Ortiz and Juan Manuel Marquez.

Make no mistake about it, both of these fighters have a say-so in a mega-bout between Mayweather and Pacquiao. Be it Ortiz against Mayweather or Marquez against Pacquiao, they have nothing to lose by letting it all hang out; this is one of the perks of being the underdog, as all the pressure is on the other guy.

It’s amazing, really, to think that these two top-shelf fights are widely considered as nothing more than “warm ups” for a much bigger fight in the future¾especially when it is a fight that could have been made many times before. Yes, everyone is allowed to dream, but eventually the dream ends and we wake up to reality, and the reality is that all the roadblocks that stopped Mayweather vs. Pacquiao in the past are still going to be there if both men manage to win their next fights.

But while everyone continues to look forward toward the ever elusive Mayweather vs. Pacquiao dream fight, I find myself unable to look away from another possibility, one that has been a constant in the fight game: the possibility of an upset, maybe even two.

Don’t think it’s possible? History will tell you differently.

Consider Mayweather vs. Ortiz. Mayweather looks to have just about the perfect package for a fighter: blinding speed, excellent conditioning, a defensive skill set unequaled in his time, pin-point accuracy, and the experience of performing on the biggest stages under the brightest lights. He has so much going for him that it would be easy to take the fight for granted.

Then, you have Ortiz: a younger fighter, with nothing to lose and everything to gain. He’s got knock out power in his punches, and he’s young, and this is his chance. This fight is coming to him at a perfect time in his career: he’s got a bit of the spotlight, and everyone is overlooking him. Add to that that Mayweather isn’t getting any younger, and in his last outing against Shane Mosley, he got caught with a punch that probably never would have landed flush when Mayweather was younger and fighting regularly, and you suddenly have more than a glimmer of hope in the Ortiz training camp.

So, if Ortiz trains to throw over one hundred punches per round, for twelve rounds, and decided to make it a down-and-dirty, trench warfare affair, Roberto Duran style, who is to say we won’t get to see Mayweather defeated?

Yes, it is improbable. Mayweather is a consummate professional with a wealth of experience. But of all his fights I have seen, I cannot really remember anyone getting rough-and-tumble with him, making him fight an ugly fight against the ropes and in the corners. I wonder how a man like Mayweather, who is so accustomed to being allowed a great deal of breathing room by his opponents, would respond to being smothered along the ropes in a rough brawl where his vision is limited by his opponent being shoulder-to-shoulder with him, grinding against him and throwing shots not only to the head but to the body and arms in equal measure?

Of course, there is always the chance of getting caught on the way in. Mayweather is a sniper to a degree unparalleled in today’s game, and in order to implement such a rough game plan, Ortiz would indeed eat punches. But if he could simply accept that as a fact, and not let it throw him off, he could start winning rounds. Every fighter has their own rhythm, and Mayweather has always shined when he has room to move, dictating the distance. How many rounds is Mayweather going to win if he’s spending the majority of each round trying to dodge punches instead of throwing them? How would Mayweather respond to the fact that he is losing more rounds than he is winning? Would that make him open up more in order to regain lost ground, risking being caught with a knock out punch for the sake of more offense and less defense?

This is the time for Ortiz to shine; it is his spotlight to steal. If he is willing to accept the risk of losing by a knock out and is in the kind of condition needed to throw more than one hundred punches per round, forcing the “pretty boy” to fight a messy fight, then we could have a whole new ball game on our hands: one Ortiz could win. And who knows, maybe we’ll see Mayweather reinvent himself anew, in the face of hard conflict, displaying aspects of his game we never knew existed? Great champions find a way to win in bad situations, and Mayweather is indeed a great champion.

Then, there is the problem of Juan Manuel Marquez.

Marquez has fought Pacquiao twice, and many feel he has beaten him twice. We could go on and on about their first two fights, but suffice it to say that Marquez is the only fighter in many years to not only challenge Pacquiao, but win more than a few rounds in the process. He has rocked Pacquiao on more than a few occasions, and stylistically, he seems the perfect foil for the Pac-man.

Scheduled to meet for the third time in November, once again, everyone is expecting Pacquiao to win this fight, due to the heavier weight division both men will be fighting in, and how far Pacquiao has come. But once again, styles make fights, and this is all about style.

Marquez is a highly underrated defensive fighter, and it was his counter punching (not to mention his straight punches at distance) that gave Pacquiao fits in their first two fights. When you add to this the fact that facing Pacquiao seems to bring the best out of Marquez, and we have a fight that is being shamed due to how many supposed “experts” are taking the ending for granted. This is in no way, shape or form a “warm-up”, and if Freddy Roach and crew are taking it as such (which they aren’t), Pacquiao is going to lose.

If anyone is taking a risk in these fights, it's Pacquiao. He has two victories over Marquez in the books, and could have waived this fight off, really. He didn’t because he wants to be in exciting fights, and unlike his past few opponents, Marquez will not be one to quietly assume the role of punching bag. He will be firing back, and he will be looking to win, and that always makes for an exciting fight.

So, while looking ahead, it helps to remember the past: Douglas over Tyson, Hopkins over Trinidad, Spinks over Ali, Baldomir over Judah, Rachman over Lewis, Foreman over Moore, etc. Upsets can happen at any given time, and as history has shown us, are more apt to happen when they seem least likely.

And that is why we watch the fights, isn’t it?