Floyd Mayweather Urged to Retire by Father as Money Targets 'Easy Fights'

Floyd Mayweather Jr. would be better off retiring than facing opponents who aren’t up to scratch, according to his father.  

“Floyd told me he just wants to get a couple of easy fights,” Floyd Mayweather Sr. said to David Mayo of MLive.com (h/t Edward Chaykovsky of BoxingScene.com). “My honest opinion, if he feels that way, he should get on out of the game. Anybody's body, 20 years, anybody's body gets tired — and it's been every day of 20 years, and longer, for my son.”

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As noted by Chaykovsky’s piece, Mayweather Jr. is scheduled to return to the ring for what’s rumoured to be his final fight on September 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The two men in the frame to face Money are reportedly Andre Berto and Amir Khan.

A fight against Khan would be a challenge for Money and probably not the kind of bout his father was referring to. The Brit is a fighter on the rise, after all, and after beating Chris Algieri comfortably in his last outing, he seems ready for an illustrious opponent.

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Dominic Verdin of RingTV.com thinks that the American is ducking a potential showdown with Khan:

Indeed, that’s because the undefeated Mayweather Jr. has reportedly picked Berto to be his next opponent. That's according to Michael Woods of the Sweet Science, who says the bout will not be a pay-per-view event and will instead be broadcast on CBS, as Money looks to take his professional record to 49 wins from 49 fights.

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Berto is the kind of fighter Mayweather Sr. was probably referencing by "easy fights." The 31-year-old is a determined competitor and someone who could hang in there against Mayweather Jr., but he does not possess anywhere near enough class to cause Money issues in the ring.

Kevin Mitchell of the Guardian doesn’t see the logic behind this fight being scheduled:

Some will say Mayweather Jr. has little left to prove after beating Manny Pacquiao in May. The Filipino was the man many expected to finally end the American’s immaculate sequence of wins, but Money outclassed Manny over the course of 12 rounds. After that triumph, has he now earned the right to pick whichever opponent he wants?

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Perhaps, and the prospect of a bout against Berto is not something everyone is quite so downhearted about, including Steve Kim of UCNLive.com:

But Khan, while he would still be a big underdog against Mayweather Jr., would make for the more lucrative showpiece and competitive fight. The Brit has been itching for a shot at the American for a long time and, on paper, certainly deserves the opportunity more than Berto.

He looks likely to be frustrated once again, however, with Mayweather Sr.’s own concerns apparently coming to fruition with the Berto bout. When Mayweather Jr. does finally decide to hang the gloves up, he’ll still be revered as one of the finest fighters of all time. But a lopsided win over Berto will do little to enrich his already stellar legacy.