Floyd Mayweather Owes Fans Epic Bout in September After Beating Manny Pacquiao

When Floyd Mayweather showed up for his post-fight press conference after defeating Manny Pacquiao in a fight whose hype was only overshadowed by the ultimate boredom it produced, there was no "Are you not entertained?" nods to Gladiator, no boasts about how boxing as a sport had taken a step forward on the night, barely any concern about how his legacy was affected, for better or worse, by the fight. 

There was only his record-setting payday.

"The ultimate goal was to make nine figures in one night,” he boasted, via Case Keefer of the Las Vegas Sun, “and that’s what we did.”

And that's why, when he noted that his fight in September would likely be his last fight and he would relinquish all of his belts, I knew his last hurrah will likely be one more cash grab against an overmatched opponent he knows he will beat. 

Heck, his dad has already called for him to do just that, via Bleacher Report UK:

But he owes the fans much, much more than that.

It's not just that folks shelled out $100 for a fight against Pacquiao that was, quite frankly, a dud. It's that Mayweather has essentially made a career out of flaunting his career earnings in the faces of fans while giving those same fans far less back in return. 

People, I suspect, watch Mayweather for various reasons. 

Most folks watch because he is the definition of a heel, and they despise him and desperately want to see him lose his undefeated record.

Perhaps some enjoy his technical, defensive and at times retreating style of boxing; Mayweather does intelligently and precisely dissect his opponents. He may take some of the "sweet" out of the sweet science, but there is no questioning his boxing IQ. 

And many of us watch hoping that at some point Mayweather will represent something more than a sheer businessman who happens to box, that he'll actually care about his legacy, that he'll risk something for once. We don't need him to be Rocky, wildly swinging away for personal redemption, but for heaven's sake, could he at least fight for something a little deeper than his own pockets?

Now, I won't blame Mayweather for doing what he needs to do to win fights. He is by nature a defensive boxer, using his length, speed and intelligence to avoid or absorb an opponent's attack, wear that opponent down and pick him apart with his quick jabs and strong right hand. 

Jason Merritt/Getty Images

But I can blame Mayweather for consistently fighting opponents who aren't in his league, talent-wise. I can blame him for waiting until his top challengers are past their primes. I can blame him for not actively seeking the toughest possible fight available. I can blame him for running around in the ring and grappling in the most dispassionate way possible. 

I will blame him if he lives up to all of the above again in his final fight. 

It's one thing to be a defensive boxer. It's quite another thing to compile a risk assessment report in the middle of the ring, in front of a packed arena and millions of fans watching at home, and to drive folks mad by always taking the safest approach. 

It's why, as Sean Ingle of The Guardian wrote, Mayweather will avoid the one opponent left out there who could really challenge him and provide a compelling fight:

"

It is not Mayweather’s fault that he has outclassed so many of his opponents. But there are still challenges out there; ones that would prove his place in the pantheon mattered as much as his bank balance. A fight with Gennady Golovkin, the unbeaten WBA middleweight champion, who boasts detonators in his fists, would do the trick. But it will never happen; Mayweather is too cautious.

"

Instead, he'll fight Amir Khan or Pacquiao again. He'll go the easy route. He'll choose to print money at the expense of the people who have provided the paper: the fans. He'll continue to fear losing. He'll continue to be boring. 

And at this point, he'll do it all to keep that unbeaten record. Underneath it all, he cares deeply about his legacy, and the truth is that all he has is that record. He'll never be beloved or remembered as one of the all-time greats. He may have been the best of his generation, but his generation was the one in which people regularly suggest that boxing has died. 

So no, he won't give fans the epic fight to close out his career that they crave. Even on the way out, boxing fans won't get that. Mayweather doesn't care about the fans. He doesn't care about the sport. He doesn't even care about being entertaining, at least not once he actually steps into the ring.

He only cares about filling his enormous ego with as many dollars as possible. And for some reason, the American public will likely continue to humor him in that quest. Why would his last fight be any different?