According to Floyd Mayweather Jr. if you want to see him fight, time is running out.
The pound-for-pound king said on Tuesday that he plans to retire at the conclusion of his six-fight Showtime/CBS contract, which likely will be next September.
Mayweather will have the fourth bout of his current contract on Saturday (Showtime PPV, 9 ET) at the MGM Grand when he defends his WBC welterweight & light middleweight world championships against former champion Marcos Maidana (35-4, 31 KOs) in a rematch of Mayweather’s action-packed majority decision victory on May 3.
“I only got two more fights left (after Saturday) and after the next two fights I just want to build the Mayweather Promotions brand,” Mayweather said of his promotional company during a roundtable with a handful of reporters on Tuesday at the MGM Grand after making his grand arrival for fight week.
During the roundtable Mayweather who typically fights in May on Cinco de Mayo weekend and in September on the weekend before or after Mexican Independence weekend said he plans on hanging them up after his second fight next year. Meaning if he stays true to form he will be retiring almost exactly a year from now.
“My next fight is in May and my last fight is in September, so a year from now will be my last fight,” a serious Mayweather said.
The 37-year-old Mayweather (46-0, 26 KOs) said he plans to remain involved in boxing as a promoter.
“I’ll still be working with my stable of fighters, still building the Mayweather Promotions brand,” he said. “We have young fighters that we work with.”
As the top attraction of the sport for so many years, Mayweather constantly has a target on his back, with each opponent trying to become the first to end his undefeated streak. It takes a special fighter to withstand that kind of pressure.
At 46-0, Mayweather is just three victories away from tying famed heavyweight Rocky Marciano’s iconic 49-0 mark. He’s avoided losing by not just outboxing his opponents, but by being absolutely dominant.
Only three of Mayweather’s decisions have not been unanimous, including his 2013 victory over Canelo Alvarez, which appeared to be as one-sided of a fight as it gets. Mayweather’s other strong showings in recent years came against Miguel Cotto and Juan Manuel Marquez, with both victories coming by unanimous decision.
Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather’s close friend and the chief executive of Mayweather Promotions, was sitting next to Mayweather as he spoke about retirement.
“I’m happy. He deserves it. He’s put in the work his whole career. Grinding, done everything the fans have asked of him,” Ellerbe said. “He’s had a remarkable career. It’s time to hang ’em up. Made all the money you can make. What else is there to do in the sport? There’s nothing else to prove.”
Take a detailed look at Mayweather’s career by the numbers:
1 — Number of immediate rematches Mayweather had granted prior to Maidana. After a controversial unanimous-decision win against Jose Luis Castillo in April 2002, Mayweather beat Castillo more decisively eight months later.
$32 million — Mayweather’s purse for his first fight against Maidana, who was paid $1.5 million (not including their share of the pay-per-view take).
$150 million — Amount of pay-per-view revenue generated by Mayweather’s fight against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez last year, the highest-grossing event of all time. It sold 2.2 million pay-per-views. Reports estimate about 900,000 buys for Mayweather vs. Maidana.
78 percent — The chances that Mayweather remains undefeated after the Maidana rematch, according to the current betting line after adjusting for the house’s hold. Mayweather is a minus-750 favorite (meaning you’d risk $7.50 to win $1), with Maidana coming back at plus-500 (meaning you’d risk $1 to win $5).
46 — Number of consecutive professional fights won by Mayweather. “Money” is undefeated in his 19-year career, which gives him more pride than his garages full of luxury automobiles.
54 — Percentage of Mayweather punches that landed against Maidana in the first bout. Maidana landed 26 percent of his 858 strikes and an alarming 36 of 318 jabs thrown.
31 — Knockouts recorded by Maidana in 39 career fights. The heavy-handed Maidana is 35-4 overall, making his stoppage percentage much higher than Mayweather’s 26 knockouts.
221 — Punches landed by Maidana in his first fight against Mayweather, according to CompuBox. It was the most Mayweather had ever been hit in a fight.
$100 million — Estimated economic impact of a Mayweather fight in Las Vegas, according to the fighter’s team when he petitioned to face Miguel Cotto before serving a three-month jail sentence.
$11 million — Local non-gaming economic impact from a 2013 Mayweather fight against Robert Guerrero, according to the Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Authority.
$350-$1,655 — Ticket prices for Mayweather vs. Maidana II. If the event sells out the arena’s 16,268 seats as expected, the live gate will come in around $15 million.
$405 — Lowest room rate available at MGM Grand the night of Mayweather vs. Maidana II. Room rates are about three times their regular price.
$4,800 — Cheapest price for a floor seat for Mayweather vs. Maidana II on StubHub.com. A selection of $1,600 face-value tickets sold out almost immediately when they went on sale this summer.
Kendrick Johnson writes for a daily newspaper and is an independent print journalist and sports television reporter who has covered the NBA Finals, NFL, NCAA football, MLB, NHL, championship boxing and UFC Fights. He’s done numerous interviews with some of the biggest names and personalities in sports. He can be reached at kendrick_e_johnson@yahoo.com or on Twitter @kendrickjohnso.
