Mayweather says he could make a 9-figure sum if he boxed again

By Boxing News - 02/02/2016 - Comments

Floyd MayweatherBy Dan Ambrose: Floyd Mayweather Jr. (49-0, 26 KOs) says he still doesn’t have the urge to come back to the sport that made him a wealthy man. He says that if he did make a comeback right now, he could pick up a nine-figure payday fighting.

It’s unknown who Mayweather would choose to fight for that kind of money because his last fight against Andre Berto in September of last year failed to bring Mayweather a nine-figure sum. For Mayweather to make nine figures, he’ll need to face the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez or Gennady Golovkin.

He’s not going to make over hundred million fighting Berto or Karim Mayfield. Mayweather would get a nice payday if he chooses to fight another mismatch, but it’s going to be far removed from a nine-figure sum.

“As of right now, I am out completely,” Mayweather said to the BBC World Service Sport. “If I do get the itch to come back, it really won’t be for the money but I have to get paid. That’s why the nickname is Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather. I really wouldn’t want to say I am the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world – you know, I am no longer active. I would like to say the best ever,” said Mayweather.

I think there are a lot of boxing fans that feel like they were burned badly by Mayweather’s last two fights against Manny Pacquiao and Andre Berto, and I don’t think the fans are going to want to pay to see Mayweather in a comeback fight unless he faces someone that has the potential of beating him like Pacquiao or Golovkin.

I doubt that the fans would even bother watching Mayweather fight Pacquiao again, because that whole thing was done very badly last May. The prices were jacked to the roof for the fight, and then neither put out much of any effort in trying to entertain. They looked like they were satisfied with getting big paydays and weren’t going to bother fighting hard. To top it off, Pacquiao later revealed that he fought with a torn rotator cuff injury. I doubt that Mayweather can make big money unless he fights someone like Golovkin, who he obviously will never fight. Therefore, Mayweather is better off staying retired rather than coming back and finding out that he can only draw 300,000 pay-per-view buys or less.

I personally don’t rate Mayweather as even in my top 100 fighters as far as the best ever category goes. I always found his fights very boring to watch. I don’t consider him as entertaining as some of the younger fighters in the sport now that haven’t accomplished as much as him. But if you’re compare Mayweather to the boxing greats like Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali and Jack Johnson, I don’t have him on the map.

I always saw Mayweather as more of a reality television type of star rather than a great fighter inside the ring. I think he attracted fans outside of the ring with the HBO 24/7 episodes. He didn’t entertain inside the ring with boring performances against Oscar De La Hoya, Pacquiao, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Miguel Cotto, Juan Manuel Marquez, and Marcos Maidana.

“It’s not being cocky or arrogant, it’s just the proof is in the pudding,” Mayweather said. “I think I have earned the right to call myself TBE [the best ever]. And I have lived up to the name TBE by going out there, day in, day out, when I was active and winning.”

Mayweather can call himself “TBE” all he wants, but I think very fans see as him as “The Best Ever.” Mayweather can call himself the president if he wants to, but that doesn’t make it so. Mayweather was just a decent fighter that took a lot of short cuts by steering around fighters like Pacquiao until he got old, and not facing guys like Golovkin, Paul Williams, Antonio Margarito, the Charlo brothers, Erislandy Lara, Kostya Tszyu, Julian Jackson, Amir Khan, and Kell Brook.

The greats like Sugar Ray Robinson would have likely faced all of those fighters. Robinson is the type that would have faced Margarito and Williams when the two of them were fighting at a high level. Robinson would have fought Golovkin, I think. He wouldn’t have walked away from a big payday like that, especially if the boxing fans wanted to see the fight.



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