Mayweather vs. Berto: Predicting Prize Money Purse Payouts Before Weigh-in

In what could very well be the final fight of Floyd Mayweather's illustrious career, the undefeated superstar promises to live up to his Money nickname once again when he takes on Andre "The Beast" Berto.

While Mayweather versus Berto is far from the so-called fight of the century between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao in terms of size and scope, every matchup involving the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world is significant.

Mayweather will be paid handsomely for stepping into the ring, as he so often is, and while Berto will make far less than his heavily favored opponent, he'll benefit financially from facing off against Mayweather as well.

Ahead of Friday's weigh-in and Saturday's fight, here is a look at the potential purse and payouts that both combatants can expect to land.

Where: MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas

When: Saturday, Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. ET

Watch: Showtime PPV

Projected Prize Money Purse Payouts

As the biggest draw in boxing, Mayweather stands to come away from Saturday's bout with a king's ransom in tow. Of course, that doesn't come as much of a surprise to those who have been following his career as of late.

According to ESPN.com's Dan Rafael, Mayweather will take home a guaranteed prize of $32 million. That is a far cry from the $180 million he reportedly made against Pacquiao, but it's right in line with his usual payday.

Less has been made of Berto's potential earnings, but he will take home $4 million, per Rafael. It was originally expected that he would make something close to the $1.5 million purse Marcos Maidana earned in his first clash with Mayweather. That increased to $3 million in their rematch after Maidana put up a strong challenge, but Berto was able to eclipse it.

According to Rafael, Mayweather's team and Showtime are going to great lengths to ensure that plenty of revenue is being brought in for the fight:

Sugar Shane Mosley is among those who are questioning how wise it would be for fans to shell out $75 to watch the fight in high definition, considering the projected one-sided nature of the bout:

Even so, Mayweather has so many fans who want to see him succeed and detractors who want to see him fail that the fight should do big business in the box office and in terms of pay-per-view buys.

Mayweather is a massive draw no matter who he faces, and that will almost certainly be proved once again when he and Berto put up big numbers despite the mismatch that is likely in store.

Analyzing Mayweather's Chances

Nick Ut/Associated Press

At 48-0 and coming off a dominant victory over Pacquiao, few expect Mayweather to get upset Saturday against Berto. That hasn't stopped Money from talking up what could be the final opponent of his career, though.

According to Rafael, Mayweather doesn't see much of a difference between Berto and Pac-Man in terms of the level of competition.

"The difference between Andre Berto and Manny Pacquiao is that you guys put hype behind Pacquiao. That's what the media did," Mayweather said. "My job was to go out there and be Floyd Mayweather and be a chess player and that's what I did. I found a way to win."

Mayweather is one of the smartest and most methodical boxers of all time, and that was on full display against Pacquiao. It is tough to envision him deviating from that plan when he faces Berto, but there is little doubt that the underdog will force the issue.

Due to Berto's aggressiveness, Mayweather envisions an exciting fight with plenty of big moments, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com):

"

I don't know why, but I'm just training a lot harder for this fight. I just want to go out with a bang, I guess. ... With the way he comes, and with the way I'm going to come, if it's not a knockout, there's going to be some knockdowns. A lot. And there's going to be blood. There's going to be knockdowns, and there's going to be blood. A lot.

"

Mayweather is going to get his money regardless of how the fight plays out and how exciting it ultimately is, but he has talked a big game during the build toward it.

With that said, Mayweather is a businessman who has done everything in his power to sell a less-than-ideal fight to the general public. While some may have bought into his comments, don't expect Mayweather to be any more aggressive than usual.

Analyzing Berto's Chances

Nick Ut/Associated Press

Berto is readying for the biggest fight of his life, and while he may have his fair share of fans at MGM Grand Garden Arena in the form of Mayweather's detractors, he hasn't exactly been feeling the love to this point.

Many were hoping for Mayweather to choose a more intriguing opponent such as Amir Khan or Keith Thurman, but he went for Berto instead, which many observers considered to be a cop-out of sorts.

Berto doesn't agree with the public perception that he's an easy opponent, and he fully intends to give the fans their money's worth when he and Mayweather clash Sept. 12, according to Radio Rahim of BoxingScene.com:

"

I was probably a little surprised that (the criticism) came like it came. Everybody knows that I always show up and I always fight my ass off. I've given my whole life to this sport and to these people. At the end of the day, yeah the money is good but I got into this game as a fan and wanting to go and perform for the people. Then you have guys like Floyd who comes in, and (takes the approach of) 'I don't care whether it's boring or not—as long as I get my check.' That ain't never been me and everybody knows that and everybody sees that in my fights. That's why I'm surprised with a lot of the criticism.

"

Berto has had his fair share of exciting fights over the years, but the main criticism seems to be that he isn't anywhere near Mayweather's level rather than anything having to do with his style.

Perhaps boxing fans' expectations are a bit unrealistic, though, since nobody has proved to be on Mayweather's level, including Pacquiao.

Berto figures to press forward and throw everything he has at Mayweather at the very least, but his brawling style won't be enough to overcome Mayweather's boxing excellence.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.