By Chris Williams: Trainer/father Floyd Mayweather Sr. believes his son WBA/WBC 147lb champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (48-0, 26 KOs) will continue to fight after he gets past challenger Andre Berto (30-3, 23 KOs) on September 12th. Floyd Sr. doesn’t say why he thinks Mayweather Jr. will continue his career, but it could have something to do with the interesting fights that he’ll have on the horizon such as rematches against Miguel Cotto, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Manny Pacquiao.
Those are all fights that would make a lot of money for Mayweather, but also it would help expand his already great legacy in the sport. Beating those fighters twice would cement the opinion that Mayweather is “The Best Ever” in the minds of a lot of boxing fans.
Mayweather could also go to the head of the class by skipping those fights and taking on IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin and beat him. Mayweather wouldn’t even need to face Pacquiao, Canelo and Cotto a second time if he were to face Golovkin and beat him for his middleweight titles.
“Things motivate people,” Mayweather Sr. said to latimes.com. “Myself, I would say yes. I believe he’ll continue to fight after this.”
If Mayweather does continue his boxing career beyond the Berto fight, he’ll be looking to win his 50th fight to put him at 50-0. That would put him one better than Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 mark. Not too many fighters have ever gone past the 49-0 mark, and Mayweather would be one of them if he sticks around next year to go after another victory.
It doesn’t matter if Mayweather retires though. He’s already accomplished greatness with his long 19-year pro career, and he doesn’t need to continue with his career for much longer. There’s nothing that Mayweather really needs to add to his career that will make him greater than he already is other than the Golovkin fight.
“This is my last fight,” Mayweather said on Wednesday during his workout with the media at the Mayweather Gym in Las Vegas, Nevada. “Nobody knows what the future holds. Every time Berto goes out there, he’s in an exciting fight. .Two-time world champion, he’s an exciting fighter. “Let’s talk about who did the highest pay-per-view, who took less punishment. Floyd Mayweather. Boxing is wear and tear on a body. It’s time to hang it up. I’m comfortable and very well off.”
The part where Mayweather says “nobody knows what the future holds” gives you a pretty good idea that Mayweather is kicking around the idea to return to the ring in the future. If he does that, then you’ve got to expect that he’ll do it by next year because he’s likely not going to want to sit back and watch lesser fighters battle over his baton without him stepping back in to snatch it from their hands and continue to dominate the sport like he’s been doing for the past 19 years.
Mayweather can make a lot of money in a rematch with Manny Pacquiao if the Filipino fighter can successfully come back from his shoulder injury. We don’t know if he can though, and the fact that his promoter Bob Arum is looking to put Pacquiao back in the ring without a tune-up fight in February or March of next year has to make you think that he has some doubts as well.
If you’re going to put Pacquiao back in the ring without at least one tune-up fight after a serious shoulder injury like the one he suffered, it makes me wonder whether that’s a cash out fight just in case his shoulder doesn’t respond.
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