Mayweather vs. Berto: Winner, Results, Recap and Prize-Money Split

For the 49th and perhaps final time in his 19-year professional boxing career, Floyd Mayweather Jr. got exactly the result he wanted.

Mayweather (49-0, 26 KOs), millimeter and millisecond perfect in timing and movement for much of his career, was exactly that for the majority of his fight with Andre Berto (30-4, 23 KOs) on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, retaining his WBC and WBA world welterweight titles and preserving his undefeated record in a wide unanimous-decision victory.

Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole had the cards:

The main narrative thrust for this fight was that it was going to be Mayweather's last tango between the ropes. He maintained that stance after the bout, per TheSweetScience.com's Michael Woods:

According to ESPN.com's Dan Rafael, the prize-money split for this bout was a minimum of $32 million to Mayweather and $4 million for Berto. The numbers were another indicator of the anticlimactic nature of the bout. For his work against Manny Pacquiao, Mayweather earned approximately $250 million, per Rafael.

In stark contrast to the wildly exciting and action-packed undercards, the first five rounds were drab and slowly paced. Bad Left Hook's Scott Christ summed up the early portion of the match: 

The tenor of the fight changed in the sixth, with Berto finally letting his hands go and taking the fight to Mayweather. There were brief—very brief—flashes of the type of carnage Marcos Maidana brought to Mayweather in their first fight.

In the majority of exchanges, however, Mayweather's speed, accuracy and boxing IQ were too much for Berto. SHO Stats had the final punch stats, reflecting Mayweather's utter dominance of Berto: 

Boxing writer Gabriel Gonzalez felt the fight was not in the spirit of great competition, as evidenced by Mayweather's nonchalance in the later rounds:

The Associated Press' Tim Dahlberg summed up the spectacle, or lack thereof, thusly:

Legacy and money have always seemed to be Mayweather's primary concerns, but he also cited his long-term health as a factor in his decision to retire.

“My health is more important,” Mayweather said prior to the bout, per the New York Post's George Willis. “If you stick around anything too long, anything can happen. I’m not really worried about losing, but I want to have a sharp mind. You can make a lot of money, but you still want to be able to talk, walk and have a sharp mind.”

Berto—just 3-3 in his previous six bouts—came into the fight as an incredibly steep underdog. According to Odds Shark, Mayweather was a 1-50 favorite to win Saturday night. Handpicked by Mayweather for his final bout, Berto was seen by many as a boxer unworthy of the moment. The MGM Grand attendance numbers, per Rafael, reflected as much:

Those numbers likely also reflected a lasting bad taste from Mayweather's underwhelming fight against Pacquiao earlier this year. It made for a strange atmosphere, with Mayweather's last fight feeling more like a brief epilogue than a historic finish.

Berto at least looked the part of a world-beater, with pounds of rippling muscle packed into a 5'6 1/2" frame. However, the Florida native failed to unleash his cartoon physique on Mayweather early on, playing right into the champion's preferred pace and style.

Boxing scribe Daniel Roberts did not have kind words for Berto early in the match: 

Mayweather, sporting a 3.5-inch reach advantage (72 inches to 68.5 inces), per BoxRec, used his stiff jab to keep Berto at a distance. There was little opportunity for the challenger to get a clean shot, let alone string together the kind of combinations he would need to win this fight. 

Steve Marcus/Associated Press

Looking at the punch numbers from SHO Stats, it was smooth sailing for Mayweather through two rounds:

Berto had an opponent in the ring, but he was really just shadowboxing. Anytime Berto showed some fire, Mayweather extinguished his offense by ducking out of range or securing a quick clinch. Berto tried, and failed, to take the fight inside, per Iole: 

Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix felt Berto did enough to win the seventh, but SHO Stats showed it was all Mayweather in the next round: 

Berto did what he could, but Mayweather's movement was breathtaking at times. Whether it was on the ropes or in the center of the ring, he made Berto miss badly on a number of punches. It was the same song and dance number boxing fans have seen so many times before from Money.

With an advantage on the cards obvious to any observer, Mayweather ended up doing more taunting and showboating than actual boxing in the final few rounds. Berto got in a few shots in the fracas, but Bad Left Hook's Tom Craze noted Mayweather's otherworldly skill kept him healthy: 

Berto is now 3-4 in his last seven bouts. He hasn't been much of a factor in the championship circuit in several years. In most cases, a fight against Mayweather would give him a considerable bump, but his performance and the tepid atmosphere surrounding the fight left much to be desired.

Considering how sharp he was in the bout, Mayweather could easily line up a few more opponents, dance around them and continue to rack up victories. At 49-0, he's tied with the great Rocky Marciano. Perhaps he could chase someone like Ricardo Lopez, who finished his illustrious career 51-0-1.

If this is truly it, Mayweather has left little argument as to his dominance over a generation of fighters.