By Jeff Aranow: Former WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward isn’t sure whether Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. should make a comeback to the sport of not. Mayweather recently told Showtime that he isn’t thinking of making a comeback right now, but if he did come back, he’d want a nine-figure payday.
Ward thinks it’s a good idea for Mayweather to stay retired because he would leaving the sport at the top with his brains and money intact. But at the same time, Ward could understand it if Mayweather does decide to launch a comeback in the near future, because he has the chance to make a lot of money in going for win No.50.
Ultimately, Ward believes that Mayweather will make the right decision in whether to make a comeback or not.
“Personally, I’m torn. I’d love to see him come back for selfish reasons just to watch him,” said Ward to Fighthype. “But personally, I haven’t seen a lot of guys walk away on top and leave with their legacy inactive, and leave with their brain intact, and leave their money. But not a lot of guys left on top. He could be one of the guys to do it. I’d love to see him stay gone for that reason, and he’s old. This is hard in your 20s. It’s hard in your early 30s. For that reason, I’d want him to stay away. Floyd is a competitor; number 50 is right there. It’s a lot of money to be made with just one decision to come back. It’s tough to say if he should do it or shouldn’t do it. I think Floyd knows what he wants to do and I think he’ll make the right decision,” said Ward.
Mayweather has mentioned WBC welterweight champion Danny “Swift” Garcia (32-0, 18 KOs) as a potential opponent to fight if he does come back. That’s a non-risky fight for Mayweather because Garcia only has one tool in his arsenal of punches and that’s his left hook. His right hand is nothing special, and Mayweather would have little problems pounding out a decision against him. The only question is will a network shell out nine-figures to Mayweather for a fight that will almost surely be a huge money loser.
The fans nowadays are more selective than they were in the past, and Mayweather will likely need to take on a better fighter than Garcia if he wants to get one of the networks to pay him nine figures. The only fighters that Mayweather could fight that would save the networks from taking a big loss is possibly Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Manny Pacquiao and Gennady Golovkin.