Rumored Mayweather-Berto Bout Would Be a Fitting End to Floyd's Tragic Career

Floyd Mayweather’s rumored opponent for a September 12 bout is no one that it should be.

According to The Sweet Science’s Michael Woods, Mayweather will face Andre Berto in a bout televised on CBS, a horrid promotion that will be promoted as a “give back” to fight fans because it will be aired on network television rather than pay-per-view.

According to ESPN.com's Dan Rafael, Berto released a statement confirming the possibility of the fight:

The bout would complete Mayweather’s lucrative six-fight contract with CBS/Showtime.

Mayweather, 38, frequently touts himself as "TBE" or "The Best Ever." He might very well have a point. His ability as a prizefighter is borderline unparalleled.

But the tragedy of Mayweather is he has so seldom tried to prove it. He waited over five years to finally face and defeat the welterweight everyone in the world wanted to see him fight, Manny Pacquiao. He appears to be doing the same now with other relevant welterweight and junior middleweight contenders who might actually give him a run for his money.

Isaac Brekken/Associated Press

Berto has no business inside a prizefighting ring with Mayweather. He is athletic but hardly skilled. He is not ranked among the top 10 welterweights in the world by either Ring Magazine or the Transnational Boxing Ranking Board. He has suffered losses to middling contenders Victor Ortiz, Robert Guerrero and Jesus Soto Karass. He possesses no attribute as a fighter that would lead any sane person to believe he’d be anything but a glorified sparring partner for Mayweather on fight night.

And no, the Berto fight is not yet signed, sealed and delivered. According to Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times, Amir Khan has lobbied hard for the fight. Chris Algieri and Devon Alexander, both of whom Khan recently defeated, are alternate possibilities.

But while these opponents might be a hair better than Berto on paper, none of them should actually be in the running to face the undefeated lineal welterweight and junior middleweight champion in Mayweather.

Julio Cortez/Associated Press/Associated Press

If Mayweather were really set on proving himself as an all-time great, there are a slew of better fights out there. The most dangerous opponent he could select would be WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin. It’s a bout he could very well find himself as the underdog in.

If Roberto Duran didn’t give pause to facing Marvin Hagler in 1983, why should Mayweather do so for Golovkin?

Or if his historical legacy was on his mind, one could hardly fault Mayweather for rematching lineal middleweight champion Miguel Cotto, whom he defeated by decision in 2012 at junior middleweight. A win in the rematch would net Mayweather his fifth lineal crown in as many weight classes and make him lineal champion in three divisions at the same time.

In boxing, that’s as historically important as it gets.

Even a lesser middleweight titleholder would do. Wouldn’t it? Going for a title belt against Andy Lee or David Lemieux would be both marketable and profitable for Money and net him a title in a sixth weight division.

Anonymous/Associated Press

But let’s give Mayweather the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he’s just too small to compete at middleweight.  Men of similar size have done it, but let’s not split hairs over six measly pounds.

Since winning the lineal junior middleweight championship against Canelo Alvarez in 2013, Mayweather has not defended it once. Is it because available options like crafty southpaw titleholders Erislandy Lara and Demetrius Andrade pose too great a risk? Wouldn’t crude IBF crown-wearer Cornelius Bundrage suffice instead, or does his reckless aggression make him too great of a threat too?

Mayweather’s supporters wish for him to have the benefit of the doubt in all instances. Let’s give it to him here too. Maybe he is too small for junior middleweight. Never mind his win over Alvarez and Cotto. Let’s let Mayweather be Mayweather.

Are there no better welterweights for him to fight than Berto, Khan, Algieri or Alexander?

Timothy Bradley is the top welterweight Mayweather has not yet defeated. He’s quick-fisted, steel-chinned and aggressive. Keith Thurman is an undefeated power puncher with solid technical skills. Kell Brook has the length of arm and pop in his punches to give any welterweight in the world problems.

So why is Mayweather seeking lesser options?

Eric Jamison/Associated Press

Here’s the uncomfortable truth about the era’s greatest prizefighter: He would rather be praised for his potential than for his achievements.

Perhaps Mayweather really could have been the best fighter ever. But he never wanted to prove it. Nothing drives the point home like his work over the last three years. He’s fought two credible opponents in his last five fights—Pacquiao and Alvarez. One was past his prime. The other had not yet reached it.

The other opponents he selected, Marcos Maidana, whom he fought twice in 2014, and Guerrero, whom he fought in 2013, were eerily similar to Berto. The only way they belonged inside a prizefighting ring with Mayweather was because he selected them to be there.

No one else was calling for those fights. Classic Mayweather.

John Locher/Associated Press

And he chose those fighters because they posed virtually no risk to his undefeated record. Such is the case with the rumored Berto bout and any of the other fighters Mayweather is projected to face on September 12. They're all bunk. 

Mayweather’s career is a case study in careful management, unfulfilled potential and the tragic meanderings of a fighter who never really believed in himself enough to see how good he could be.

That's a shame. Because Mayweather could have been so much more.