By Chris Williams: Floyd Mayweather Jr. isn’t bothered by the criticism that has been heaped on him in the media from boxing fans upset about his selection of Andre Berto for his next opponent to tie Rocky Marciano’s record of 49-0 on September 12th in their fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
As far as Mayweather’s concerned, the fans don’t have to see it if they don’t want to. No one is forcing them to buy it. Some boxing fans have even started saying that Mayweather selected Berto because he’s afraid of losing to Amir Khan, Keith Thurman or Gennady Golovkin.
Here Mayweather is unbeaten and coming off a win over Manny Pacquiao last May, and fans are still questioning his talent. Whatever the case, Mayweather doesn’t care because he feels he’s the best ever in the sport.
“I’m going to be TBE (The Best Ever) till the day I die,” Mayweather said via the media. “No one’s forcing anyone to watch,” he said. “If you want to watch, watch. If you don’t want to watch, don’t watch.”
There isn’t anyone on the horizon with the talent to take the TBE title from Mayweather fight now, and there’s an excellent chance that he’ll be able to keep that honor his entire life. It’s difficult for any fighter to go their entire career with an unbeaten record, and it’s even more difficult for them to dominate the way Mayweather has his entire 19 year pro career. I think there’s a very good chance that Mahyweather will die as TBE. It would take someone who is not in the pipeline now to come along and take the TBE from Mayweather. I don’t see anyone right now with the kind of talent that Mayweather possesses.
I agree with Mayweather. He’s proven that he’s “The Best Ever” with his great career, and if the fans are still going to grumble about him or who he’s facing then no one is forcing the fans to watch his fights.
I think it’s pretty clear, at least to me, that Mayweather is TBE after his wins over Pacquiao, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Miguel Cotto, Diego Corrales, Jose Luis Castillo, Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, Ricky Hatton, Carlos Manuel Baldomir, Arturo Gatti, Zab Judah, Sharmba Mitchell, Juan Manuel Marquez, Robert Guerrero, Victor Ortiz, Carlos Hernandez, Jesus Chaves, Genaro Hernandez and Emanuel Augustus.
“This is it,” Mayweather said. “My health is more important than anything. I have a sharp mind, and I want to leave the sport the same way.”
If Mayweather does come back next year to fight again, then fans need to be happy that he’s changed his mind and decided to come back and give them a final gift by fighting again for his 50th win. But it’s Mayweather’s choice. He doesn’t want to ruin his health by staying too long in the sport like some fighters do, because he’s made some good money in his career and now it’s time for him to enjoy the green like normal people do when they retire after a 20-year career.
Some boxing fans give me the impression that they want to see Mayweather stick around long enough for him to lose his skills, so that they can see him take repeated losses like a lot of aging fighters do when they stay too long in boxing. It’s a young man’s sport, and Mayweather is nearing 40 now.
“We’ll just have to see,” he said. “I hope we do a good number,” Mayweather said about the estimated pay-per-view numbers for the Berto fight.
How is Mayweather supposed to know what the PPV numbers will be for his fight against Berto? Mayweather can’t predict the future. All he can do is go out and do the best he can against the best possible opponent, and right now, Mayweather feels that Berto is the best guy out there for him. Berto proved himself in his last two fights against Steven Upsher Chambers and Josesito Lopez that he’s still got it, and is still a highly talented fighter.
The problems that Berto had in the past were mostly injury related, and he’s taken care of those injuries with shoulder surgery and rehab. Berto’s trainer Virgil Hunter has helped turn Berto’s career around in the same way that trainer Freddie Roach has turned Miguel Cotto’s career around.
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