The issue with Mihawk (for me personally) has nothing to do with powerscaling, it has to do with aligning him to a legitimate group. Ive been thinking about this more, but CG might honestly be the perfect group depending in what Oda does with them.
Take into account what remains in terms of factions:
- Revolutionaries: Allies
- Kizaru's army: Irrelevant to Mihawk
- Blackbeard: Has Shiryu
- Shanks: Has Beckman
- Akainu: Has Fuji and Ryo, Mihawk is on the polar opposite spectrum vs. Marines
- Imu: Has Ghandi or even a God Knight
CG, for now, is comprised of 2 former villains and Mihawk. There is some likelyhood that they align with Moria and Doffy at least. But I wonder if itll go further on recruitment. You have Weevil potentially. You have potential alignment with the Underworld or some other former ID prisoners (we'll see). And who knows where the Burned Man fits into this.
This is why I think the battle for One Piece is between all 4 Yonko after the 4th RP is taken or at that point. Anyone with PK ambition (Blackbeard, Shanks(?), Croc, Moria, Doffy, Buggy, etc) will lose by this point. Fights will be handled more in a chaotic free for all, culminating into whomever wins in each. Im talking about each battle being a group of 4 (and laughably Buggy with Luffy, Shanks and Blackbeard).
So on one hand, I absolutely think Mihawk should be Zoro's last fight, but on the other, I almost cant see him lasting beyond Laugh Tale, just as I cant see the same for BB or Shanks for now (unless one of them pulls a Houdini with One Piece and is in the final war).
The person who becomes PK kills the ambition for the rest. Buggy's chapter in 1082 solidifies that Mihawk will be present for this moment, so its hard for me to see anything beyond it right now.
Tldr:
- Mihawk is in CG
- CG is going after One Piece
- The other 3 Yonko are aiming for the same thing.
- Only 1 victor = 3 losers.
- There is a high chance that going after one piece occurs before taking down the WG. Maaaaybe Akainu and the Marines take part in this war near Laugh Tale, but the WG is not the same entity.