By John F. McKenna (McJack): More than a few boxing writers, analysts and fans who saw Floyd “Money” Mayweather (41-0, 25 KO’s) at the two the press conferences to hype his fight with Victor “Vicious” Ortiz (29-2-2, 22 KO’s) noticed something different about him.

Boxing fans did not witness the arrogant and dismissive “Money” Mayweather that they were used to seeing. The swagger and sneering at whoever he had to face off with was gone.

Instead we saw a calm, docile Floyd Mayeather at the press conferences. One could think that the former five division world champion looked tired and disinterested. For the first time in his brilliant career Floyd looked every bit his age of 34 years.

Some could write it off as a publicity ploy, or another attempt to get inside his youthful and inexperienced rivals head. Ortiz after all has never fought at this high level before, and it would not be the first time that Floyd played head games with an opponent.

But in this case it looked genuine. It would not be too far fetched to think that Mayweather decided to take the fight with Ortiz strictly for financial reasons. It could be that Floyd is tired and bunt out from a job he no longer enjoys.

Since capturing the lineal welterweight title from Carlos Baldomir in November 2006 Mayweather has only fought four times (By comparison during that same stretch of time Floyd’s arch rival Manny Pacqquiao has fought nine times). The average length of time between those four fights is fourteen months. Between his fights with Ricky Hatton and Juan Manuel Marquez, there was a twenty one month gap.

By the time Mayweather steps into the ring with Victor Ortiz it will have been sixteen months since he put on his masterful performance against Shane Mosley.

Clearly the career of the greatest defensive fighter of this generation and perhaps any generation is winding down. We as boxing fans have come to expect the very best out of Floyd Maweather when he steps into the ring. His tactical brilliance in the ring is unsurpassed as is his ability to strategize and destroy the game plan of his opponents.

Boxing fans are eagerly looking forward to Mayweather’s fight with Ortiz in September. To his credit Floyd did not pick an opponent who is a pushover. This fight should be a useful gauge for fans who want to see how much “Money” has left in the tank.