Mayweather to retire in 2015, denies negotiating with Pacquiao

MANILA, Philippines - Floyd Mayweather says he will fight for one more year before hanging up his gloves.

Mayweather, still undefeated after 46 outings, confirmed he will quit boxing in 2015 after two more fights, which are part of his lucrative six-bout deal with broadcaster Showtime.

“I only got two more fights left (after Saturday) and after the next two fights I just want to build the Mayweather Promotions brand,” the American boxer said in a report by ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael.

Mayweather will take on Marcos Maidana in a rematch Sunday, his fourth fight under Showtime, then plans to see action again in May and September next year before finally calling it quits.

It’s a schedule he vowed to stick to.

“My next fight is in May and my last fight is in September, so a year from now will be my last fight,” Mayweather said, refusing to state his preferred opponents.

“As of right now, my focus is on Maidana. I can’t focus on the other two fights after that. I have to focus on Maidana. After that we can’t say who’s the next two are going to be but I’m pretty sure the next two will be exciting fights,” the boxer added.

Maidana, a hard-punching slugger from Argentina, pushed Mayweather to the limit in their first meeting in May this year. He threw everything but the kitchen sink on the undefeated American in the early rounds but still came up short as Mayweather outboxed him for the rest of the fight to win a majority decision.

If Mayweather gets past Maidana again on Sunday, talks about a long-overdue megabuck bout with Pacquiao are expected to come up anew.

Pacquiao himself said there have been preliminary talks with the Mayweather camp about a fight, and Top Rank Inc. chief Bob Arum is confident the bout will finally be staged in 2015.

But Mayweather denied those statements by Pacquiao and Arum.

“Not true,” Mayweather said. “I can’t say what the future holds, but Arum and Pacquiao is trying to sell tickets for the (fight with the) guy named (Chris) Algieri. Trying to sell tickets for that fight. I don’t know where they fighting, I don’t know anything about what Top Rank is doing.”

Pacquiao will take on Chris Algieri on Nov. 23 in Macau, after which he’ll fight four more times – twice each in 2015 and 2016 – before also retiring from the sport.