THE world media have opened fire on Floyd Mayweather for naming Andre Berto as his final fight, questioning how it will affect the legacy of the forever polarising “Money”.
Mayweather announced on Wednesday that Haitian/American Berto would step into the ring with him on September 12 in Las Vegas, with the unbeaten champion aiming to equal Rocky Marciano’s fabled 49-0 record.
Berto (30-3, 23 knockouts) is a former welterweight world champion but has lost three of his last six fights and is far from the ideal farewell opponent, given better options such as Keith Thurman, Amir Khan, Timothy Bradley, Kell Brook, Shawn Porter, Gennady Golovkin or rematches against Miguel Cotto and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez were all available.
The world media are laying into Mayweather for picking Berto, while also questioning whether he will actually stick to his plan to retire after 49 wins, saying the lure of another mega payday and a shot at history with a 50th win may prove irresistible.
Mayweather hosed down talk of another bout, saying: “They said they’ll offer me a lot of money. … I’m OK. I’m an old man now.”
Thurman isn't buying it, saying: “I don’t think Mayweather is going to retire on an Andre Berto. I never assumed he was going to retire.”
Suspicions are rampant, as is dissatisfaction with the Berto fight and Mayweather’s declaration that “they (fans) always tune in”.
“Even for boxing, a sport which, for all its inimitable thrills, still offers up cringeworthy match-ups with alarming frequency, this is bad,” Graham wrote.
“A habit of skipping over legitimate fights for walkovers like Andre Berto, while perhaps shrewd within a long-term business plan, will further water down a legacy that was already in question, at least in terms of the historical greatness he so passionately self-ascribes. If Mayweather cares at all about how he’s remembered, he’ll find that no fleet of Bugattis and Maybachs will be enough to compensate for what money can’t buy. The Big Boy Mansion will be his Xanadu.
“He is a man with a complex legacy that can only be drawn in shades of gray, but there’s nothing ambiguous about Mayweather’s latest chapter. This is an embarrassing fight that only a mug would pay to see.”
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