Mayweather vs. Berto: TV Schedule and Preview for Showtime All-Access Episode 3
Saturday's the big night for Floyd "Money" Mayweather (48-0, 26 KOs), who will put his undefeated record and WBC and WBA welterweight titles on the line against Andre Berto (30-3, 23 KOs). Fight fans will have one last look behind the curtain Friday night on Showtime's All Access: Mayweather vs. Berto.
Interest for this night isn't nearly as high as it was for Mayweather's ultimately anticlimactic bout with Manny Pacquiao, but if this is truly Mayweather's final foray into the squared circle, then it's indeed a noteworthy night for the sport of boxing.
All Access' second episode prominently featured ultra-sleek, tangible evidence of Mayweather's exorbitant wealth, his self-aggrandizing personality and devotion to his craft. Pretty much par for the course. It stood in stark contrast to Berto's more humble lifestyle and training.
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Here's the TV schedule for Friday's final episode of All Access:
| Friday, September 11 | 5:45 p.m. | Showtime |
| Friday, September 11 | 9 p.m. | SHO Extreme |
| Friday, September 11 | 11:45 p.m. | SHO Extreme |
| Saturday, September 12 | 7 a.m. | Showtime |
| Saturday, September 12 | 10 a.m. | Showtime |
| Saturday, September 12 | 6:15 p.m. | Showtime |
Note: Episode 3 will be available on demand after it airs Friday night. For those catching up, Episode 2 is below. Episode 1 can be found here.
Preview
Without knowing the turnaround time of All Access—nor its willingness to address such an allegation —it will be interesting to watch in light of the report from SB Nation's Thomas Hauser, which states that Mayweather took an intravenous injection before the Pacquiao fight, a process that is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency:
"Mayweather’s medical team also told the collection agents that the IV consisted of two separate mixes. The first was a mixture of 250 milliliters of saline and multi-vitamins. The second was a 500-milliliter mixture of saline and Vitamin C. Seven hundred and fifty milliliters equals 25.361 ounces, an amount equal to roughly 16 percent of the blood normally present in an average adult male.
The mixes themselves are not prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which sets the standards that USADA purports to follow. However, their intravenous administration is prohibited by WADA.
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Considering this episode is airing one day before the bout itself, one might guess that the program will focus on Mayweather's legacy and eventual retirement.
As controversial as his career has been due to his criminal convictions and abhorrent behavior outside the ring, Mayweather's been unimpeachable between the ropes. If he wins, he'll be 49-0, a record matching that of the great Rocky Marciano.
Mayweather doesn't boast knockout power, nor does he string together stinging combinations as often as he did in his younger days. What he is, however, is a master at picking his spots on offense, a shadow darting around the ring, nigh impossible to hit cleanly. One could easily imagine him picking apart a few more opponents, if not just one more to get a clean 50 wins (assuming he wins on Saturday).
Showtime vice president Victor Espinoza can picture it.
"Selfishly, as boxing fans and as a network that's been in business with him for almost the last three years, we don't want this to end," Espinoza said, via the Los Angeles Times' Lance Pugmire. "His performance is close to, or at, its peak. It seems like he has a lot left."
However, the word out of Mayweather's camp has been pretty consistent that Saturday's bout is it.
"As I've said a number of times, this will be Floyd's last fight," said Leonard Ellerbe, the president of Mayweather Promotions, via Pugmire.
And if this truly is it, from a business standpoint, Mayweather is going out with something closer to a whimper than a bang. ESPN.com's Darren Rovell noted on Wednesday that, according to Ticketmaster, there were 2,100 tickets left at the MGM Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The sales pitch—that this is the end of the Mayweather's run in boxing, one of the all-time greats—isn't working. It's easy to blame Berto, who is treading water in his career and nothing close to a household name. The lingering disappointment from the Pacquiao bout is surely playing a role as well. Hauser's report won't help much.
It's too early to say what impact, if any, the Hauser report will have on Mayweather's legacy. It's an unwelcome development to be sure, one that certainly won't do anything toward Saturday being the final, ceremonial testament to Mayweather's boxing brilliance that he and his team likely envisioned.
It seems the only way this becomes a truly noteworthy event is if Berto wins.
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