Floyd Mayweather vs. Andre Berto Fight Time, PPV Coverage Guide to Championship
Floyd Mayweather Jr. isn't heading to the fight of his life. This isn't five years in the making. There were no starts or stops—just a halfhearted confirmation of rumors that had been out there since the whole Mayweather-Pacquiao II chatter died down.
Saturday night, Mayweather closes out his six-fight contract and possibly his career going head-to-head with Andre Berto. The grand finale of one of the most prolific boxers in the sport's history has almost floated under the radar. Press has ramped up in recent weeks, but the build is nothing compared to the pre-Pacquiao spectacle.
ESPN.com's Darren Rovell reported that a number of seats were still available for Saturday's bout at market value. Contrast that to Pacquiao, which had the biggest secondary market in history, and even standard Mayweather affairs, which typically sell out with ease and have robust secondary markets.
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| Weight Class | Titles | Fighter (c) - champion | Record (KOs) | Fighter (c) - champion | Record (KO) | Rounds |
| Welterweight | WBC and WBA | Floyd Mayweather Jr. (c) | 48-0 (26) | Andre Berto | 30-3 (21) | 12 |
| Super Middleweight | WBC | Badou Jack (c) | 19-1-1 (16) | George Groves | 21-2 (16) | 12 |
| Super Featherweight | WBO | Roman Martinez (c) | 29-2-2 (17) | Orlando Salido | 42-13-2 (29) | 12 |
| Super Welterweight | Vanes Martirosyan | 35-2-1 (21) | Ishe Smith | 27-7 (12) | 10 | |
| Super Featherweight | Jhonny Gonzalez | 58-9-0 (49) | Jonathan Oquendo | 25-4 (16) | 10 |
It's strange. Here is Mayweather, who has made a career of publicly building up lesser opponents before tearing them down inside the ring, letting the process take care of itself. That Mayweather would walk away by taking more than $100 million off his payday seems at odds with his public persona. It may, however, fall right in line with the strategic planning of his career.
"But both groups (those who love and loathe Mayweather) have had one key element in common over the past decade or so: they all have purchased his fights, against guys he handpicked, because Mayweather does whatever he wants," Lou Catalano wrote for the Guardian. "And with that, he’s become one of the rarest species in a sport that most often swallows men whole: a boxer who can call it quits on his terms, against whom he decides."
Berto, a 32-year-old who has three losses in his last six fights, poses no threat to Mayweather. The threat of a one-punch knockout exists, but Mayweather would have to make an uncharacteristic mistake for this to have any chance of being an entertaining bout. Berto can't hang with Mayweather technically, he lost a decision to Victor Ortiz (against whom Mayweather recorded his last knockout) and lacks the name recognition to turn this fight into a national ordeal.
There are a few ways to look at this. Great boxing stories often end in knockouts. Sure, Apollo Creed winning by split decision was the correct ending of Rocky, but it was cooler seeing Rocky knocking Ivan Drago out in Rocky IV. Based on Mayweather's public comments, it appears he's looking for his own knockout with which to ride off into the sunset.
"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," Mayweather told reporters in August. "A lot. And there's going to be blood. There's going to be knockdowns, and there's going to be blood. A lot."
The other way to look at this is that Mayweather is finally becoming self-aware. Criticism of his public deification in the sports world has never been higher.
Ronda Rousey, the only fighter on his general stratosphere of fame, has consistently sent pointed comments Mayweather's way—particularly in regard to his history of domestic violence. Rousey's drew public praise and a prototypical Mayweatherian response, but it's fair to wonder if his camp is beginning to realize less is more as he rides off into the sunset.
Every Mayweather fight now comes with a widespread re-examining of his past (and rightfully so). It's fair to question why the public is OK with Mayweather making hundreds of millions of dollars.
It's only been over the past 12-18 months that Mayweather has been widely vilified for his criminal history (a real problem) as much as his opulence (which is no one's business).
What's more, an SB Nation feature by Thomas Hauser called into question Mayweather's reputation as the sport's great "clean" hope. Hauser's reporting alleged that Mayweather took an illegal IV prior to the Pacquiao fight, only to be granted a retroactive waiver 19 days after the bout.
Is it possible that Mayweather, whose public persona has always been more for show than anything, is ready to walk away and laugh all the way to the bank? I suppose it's possible.
We'll find out the answers in the coming months. All we know for Saturday is that there is a fight...whether you're interested is another question entirely.
Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter
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