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Is Floyd Mayweather Really Retiring After Defeating Andre Berto?

By Ernest Shepard
Published on: 16:55 PST, Sep 12, 2015

Floyd Mayweather is retiring? We will wait and see about that one. Mayweather said that he will retire, prior to his unanimous decision victory over Andre Berto. But before he retires, there is one more name that he should face, then proceed with hanging up his boxing gloves for good.

Retirement has been on Floyd Mayweather’s mind for the past few years. He has long stated that he wants to go away while on top of his game and unblemished. Mayweather wants to leave boxing before he winds up with a debilitating injury. His fighting style allows him to hit, but not get hit. And respectfully, Floyd Mayweather is seeking retirement after years of not getting hit.

Fighting in the ring is something he told Boxing Junkyhe will not miss.

“I’m not going to miss it at all. I want to be on the other side,” the pound-for-pound king (48-0, 26 KOs) reiterated. “My ultimate goal is, hopefully we can find the next Floyd Mayweather. I want to be able to hang out and go to different hotels, and enjoy the events, and wear the T-shirts and the hats.”

“I’m not breaking that 50-0 (record). Don’t worry about that.”

Consider at least one person not fully convinced.

Floyd Mayweather decided that his 49th fight would be his last. He stepped into the ring against an overlooked, but actually deserving Andre Berto for his grand finale. Mayweather, who put his undefeated record of 48-0 on the line, took a risk in facing an opponent with three horrible losses on his dossier.

Was Andre Berto the final name that Floyd Mayweather was supposed to face before he retires?

Andre Berto came into the fight with a 30-3 record. The Mayweather versus Berto was not the matchup that sold the masses. On paper, it was an inferior fight. Much like the Floyd Mayweather versus Manny Pacquiao fight, Berto on the opposite end of the pay-per-view probably should have happened five or six years ago. At that time, Berto was a rising star, with a bright future ahead. He dazzled hardcore boxing fans with his combination of blazing hand speed and power. Berto was full of promise, and then came a fall.

ESPN’s 2012 report of a failed drug test put Andre Berto’s career in jeopardy. A rematch with Victor Ortiz, a mutual opponent of Floyd Mayweather, was called off as a result. Berto was looking to avenge his then-only loss. Two bad losses, one to Robert Guerrero, the other to Jesus Soto Karass, followed the suspension. Before the Ortiz loss and suspension, Berto was well on his way to a fight with Mayweather.

The call came to fight the best, and Berto did not disappoint in a losing effort.

Both fighters took a little time getting to know one another in the ring. It was Floyd Mayweather who started the action with a few precise left hands in the first round. He mixed in the left hand with a few timely jabs in order to control the pace early.

In most of his fights, Mayweather moves around a lot — but not this time. Mayweather stayed inside the box in an effort to bade Andre Berto to create some action.

Berto spent the first round trying to find some spots to attack. The second round, he fared much better.

Round 3 offered a tense moment.

A left hand by Andre Berto appeared to connect on Mayweather, but it was ruled a slip by referee Kenny Bayless. Mayweather was fleeing a punch and slipped in the process. His challenger showed the willingness to open up his offense, as was the case in round 4.

An uppercut and jab, followed by a combination, put Floyd Mayweather on the defensive. As the round progressed, the champion momentarily stunned Berto with a short right hand.

The fifth and six rounds were uneventful until Berto landed a left hand, which was the best punch of the fight at that moment. It began a flurry of offense between both fighters. The action was punctuated by Mayweather mixing in body punches. Berto followed up with a sense of aggression, but never landed anything of significance afterwards.

Berto stole the seventh round at the end with a left hook that temporarily backed Mayweather up. Berto was busier in the round, and landed more punches than he had in any round up to that point. The same took place in the eighth round, though Floyd Mayweather stole the round.

There was some bad blood between both fighters in the ninth. Tired of the clinching and running from Mayweather, Berto threw punch with Mayweather’s back turned. That carried over in the tenth, leading to Bayless calling for a break in the action due to consistent trash talk.

Floyd Mayweather finally showed the fans that he will punch on occasion in the 11th. There was a rarely seen left hook. He used it often enough to gain Andre Berto’s respect.

There were moments in the final round where Mayweather flashed some power. A vicious uppercut put Berto on notice that the undefeated champion may be thinking knockout. He did not get what he sought for, but he looked great in the unanimous decision.

19 years later and the last fight was not a bad showing after all, though not a great fight that many had hoped for. Fans were longing for more action. What they got was more of the same dominance.

According to CompuBox stats, Andre Berto only landed 17 percent of his punches.

What is next for both fighters?

Andre Berto will continue to fight. The loss will not hurt him going forward. He was tight in some moments, and aggressive in others. It was early on in the fight that Berto could not figure out how to solve Mayweather’s defense. No one has figured him out yet in 49 fights. Berto had a well-enough showing that will actually elevate his status for other big fight considerations. As for his opponent, Floyd Mayweather, no one believes he will go away quietly.

Floyd Mayweather, retiring?

Do not expect Andre Berto to be the last name on Mayweather’s record. There is a name that keeps circulating about: Keith Thurman.

Facing Keith Thurman would make an interesting fight no. 50 for the retiring Mayweather. Nobody wants to see Floyd Mayweather retiring after the Berto fight. Fans want to see fireworks; they want to see a passing of the torch of some sort. It has been a few fights since we last saw Mayweather challenged. A fight with Thurman would challenge him, as he would be facing someone in their prime.

Tonight, fans were treated to a good bout, though nothing close to “fight of the year” material. It is a must that Floyd Mayweather puts retirement on hold so he can give everybody the fight they expected to see on paper.

(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images Sport)

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