Mayweather will fight beyond Berto clash, says Rosado

By Boxing News - 07/30/2015 - Comments

Floyd Mayweather JrBy Dan Ambrose: Many fans believe that WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. will continue fighting beyond his next fight on September 12th, which is believed to be against WBA interim 147lb champion Andre Berto. The money for that fight won’t be anything near the money that Mayweather made in his last fight against Manny Pacquiao last May, and it might prove to be a more difficult for Mayweather.

Berto isn’t the type to back off after getting hit by a few right hands like Pacquiao backed off. Berto will continue to fight and look to land hard power shots in retaliation with his fast hands. Former world title challenger Gabriel Rosado thinks that Mayweather’s ego won’t allow him to stay retired for long.

“I doubt that it’s Floyd’s last fight. He needs that high, man, so for this to be his last fight, I doubt it,” Rosado said via Fighthype.com. “I don’t want to see Floyd retire. If it’s really his last fight, then why not fight Berto. What he got to prove.”

Rosado expects him to come back next year for another fight. He didn’t name who Mayweather will likely fight, but Pacquiao would be a likely opponent because there would still be a lot of money on the table for a second fight between them. To be sure, the money wouldn’t be as good as it was last May in their so-called “Fight of the Century”, but there would be enough boxing fans interested in seeing the rematch to bring in over 2 million pay-per-view buys.

Mayweather and Pacquiao might even get away with charging $99 again for boxing fans to see the fight on PPV. They would obviously upset a lot of people if they do this given how poor their previous fight was, but it won’t matter because both fighters are at the end of the line with their careers. It won’t matter if they upset their fan base because they both will likely finish their careers in 2016.

There is only 7 weeks to go for Mayweather’s next fight on September 12th. If Mayweather is serious about wanting to fight on that date, then he needs to announce the fight sooner rather than later if he wants to be able to bring in a high number of PPV buys.

The fact that Mayweather isn’t announcing the fight right now could be due to him already getting a guaranteed big paycheck from Showtime/CBS as part of his six-fight contract with them. Having the guaranteed money frees Mayweather up from having to work hard to help market the fight. He doesn’t need to worry about getting the contracts signed well before the eight week mark leading up to the fight.

Mayweather doesn’t need to do a promotional tour to help build up interest in the fight so that it brings in more PPV buys. It would obviously help Mayweather to have the fight announced early, and it would definitely help him do a media tour around the United States to try and drive interest in his fights. But with the guaranteed money he’s getting from Showtime/CBS, he can essentially wait until the week of the fight before signing contracts and announcing it. He would already be getting big money even if the fight brings in zero PPV buys.

Rosado is correct about Mayweather likely coming back next year. It probably won’t be against guys like Shawn Porter, Amir Khan, Danny Garcia or Keith Thurman. If Mayweather does come back in 2016, it’ll be against one of the following fighters: Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto or Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. It’s less about legacies right now for Mayweather and more about making the most money he can from his last fight. The Berto fight will bring Mayweather nothing compared to what he could get against Canelo, Pacquiao or Cotto. That’s why I believe Mayweather will come back in 2016 so that he can end his career in a fight that will bring him a payday of over $100 million.



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