Floyd Mayweather has re-affirmed his plans to retire from boxing following a comfortable victory over Andre Berto in Las Vegas. Mayweather, in his 26th title fight, controlled the action all night, now allowing Berto to land more than one punch at a time.
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I’m close to 40 years old, I’ve been in this sport 19 years, been world champion for 18 years, I’ve broken all records. “I’ve had a great career”, Mayweather said. I definitely commend him for that. It’s official. My 49-0 record is part of boxing. The other scores were 118-110 and 117-111.
Mayweather finished his career on his knees, kneeling in the middle of the ring, as in prayer, after the final bell. Mayweather says his body is breaking down from the training and that he wants to spend time with his family, but if we know anything about “Money” Mayweather it’s that he can’t won’t miss out on a payday.
“I still feel I’m smart and sharp”. “I just have to stay focused and go out and do what I do best and just win”. In stark contrast to the unexceptional Berto, Mayweather has been the sport’s pound-for-pound king for nearly a decade. They say “we want to be like Mayweather”.
Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole said that “while he didn’t always fight the way many fans wanted, he leaves the sport with his faculties intact and hundreds of million in the bank”, which seemed to be the 38-year-old’s goal all along. But Mayweather – widely acknowledged as the best boxer of his generation – was adamant it was time to let someone else grab the limelight.
Mayweather has his critics, but he was given a hero’s welcome at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas by a boisterous crowd who had come expecting to see him give Berto, 32, an old-fashioned shellacking.
Berto, who described himself as a “man on a mission” during the build-up to Saturday’s fight, was asked to assess Mayweather’s standing among the pantheon of boxing greats.
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If this is truly Floyd’s final fight, which many are saying it is not, he has had one of most distinguished careers of any athlete on the face of the planet. He did not directly mention Mayweather, but the caption is obviously directed to the Mayweather fight because he posted the photo late into the bout.
