Will Floyd stay retired?

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. announced his retirement after raising his record to 49-0, including 26 KOs, with an unexciting, effortless win on points over Andre Berto who had no chance of staining his mark in Las Vegas last September.

The way Mayweather ended his 19-year ring career is probably how he’ll be remembered by fans – as a fighter who didn’t care about the sport, who was selfish, who performed not to entertain but to disdain, who fought cautiously and who hid behind the cloak of supposed intelligence to conceal a heart as big as a pebble.

Berto was a patsy out for a payday. He looked it inside the ring. The scores of the three judges weren’t close – 120-108, 117-111, 118-110, and nobody was surprised. Mayweather got what he wanted, an easy victory to equal Rocky Marciano’s record as an undefeated world champion. But there’s a big difference between Marciano and Mayweather. Marciano is revered as a blood-and-guts fighter who always gave the fans their money’s worth. Mayweather will forever be known as a fighter who robbed fans of their money and never gave back to the sport that brought him fame and fortune.

No doubt, Mayweather is or was a skilled and technically-proficient fighter. Maybe, he shouldn’t be blamed for fighting the way he did. Who wants his head to be bashed in anyway? For sure, Mayweather must be respected for his business acumen. He made tons of money from boxing and rode off into the sunset with his faculties intact unlike others in the trade. Mayweather couldn’t care less about the fans and how they view his legacy. All he cares about is how much money he has in the bank. If that’s the measure of Mayweather’s greatness, then, he’s at the top of his class (or crass?).

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Despite his pronouncements, not too many experts and fans believe Mayweather is staying retired. His lack of credibility is resounding. That’s because it’s not the first time he’s “retired.” In May 2007, Mayweather said he was hanging up his gloves after decisioning Oscar de la Hoya. But seven months later, he was back in the ring to halt Ricky Hatton. Then, he said he would retire again. In 2009, Mayweather un-retired and returned to beat Juan Manuel Marquez. From his second retirement, Mayweather logged 10 more fights, including the win over Manny Pacquiao last May.

Pacquiao recently said he doesn’t think Mayweather will stay retired. If Mayweather is all about money, then it’s money that will bring him back into the ring. Another lucrative payday against Pacquiao in a rematch would be difficult to reject. In his career, Mayweather earned an estimated $700 Million, including nearly $250 Million for facing Pacquiao. Eight of his fights drew at least a million pay-per-view hits. The Mayweather-Pacquiao bout raked in 4.4 million pay-per-view buys to mark a new record high. Mayweather’s fight against De la Hoya sold 2.4 million and his duel with Canelo Alvarez, 2.2 million.

Mayweather, however, insists that this time, retirement is for good. He said there are offers on the table for another fight and quoted nine figures. “Money doesn’t make me, I make money,” he said. But who’s listening?

Norm Frauenhelm, writing in The Ring Magazine, said, “maybe he’ll have a change of heart and come back for a 50th fight for the grand opening of a new arena across the Strip from the MGM Grand…maybe, maybe…there are as many maybes as there is cash in Money May’s future these days…there’s reasonable scepticism about whether he can really retire from the spotlight, the bully pulpit, that an active boxing career provides him…after all, that’s what sustains a healthy ego.”

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Mayweather will be 39 in February. The speculation is he’ll shoot for win No. 50 in a rematch with Pacquiao. There’s no doubt a return bout will generate interest among fans, particularly those who want to see Mayweather lose. A second fight may not earn as much as the first encounter but it will still be bigger than any match out there for either Mayweather or Pacquiao.

The USA Boxing News publisher and editor John Rinaldi said Mayweather won’t settle for a tie with Marciano. “More likely than not, Floyd will hang on to make it an even 50-0 career record,” he said. “It is hard to imagine that a fighter who single-handedly shattered all money records in boxing history would end his career with any sort of tie.” Rinaldi described Mayweather’s win over Pacquiao as “pedestrian” and said the strategy of playing it smart wasn’t enough “when the spotlight was blaring so bright.” Rinaldi added, “luckily for boxing fans, Manny has confirmed that he will return to the ring in 2016 and if Floyd is still around, will set his sights back on him one more time.”

Bleacher Report columnist Matt Jones said there is no certainty that Mayweather won’t un-retire. “Speculation continues to rage among fans over whether Money will return,” he said. “At the moment, he is level with the great Rocky Marciano in terms of overall career record and given that he remains in tremendous shape, he will likely be tempted by the prospect of making history and another substantial payday. Should he eventually lace up the gloves again, boring or not, Money would still draw more attention than any other boxer on the planet.”