Mayweather vs. Berto Decision: Judges' Scorecards and Round-by-Round Stats
Floyd Mayweather Jr., not to the shock of many, retained his welterweight title by defeating Andre Berto via unanimous decision Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
With the win, Mayweather finished his career by tying Rocky Marciano's win total while improving his record to 49-0. He spoke after the fight about the mark, per ESPN.com's Brian Campbell:
"Mayweather on equaling Marciano's 49-9 mark: "Records are made to be broken. Hopefully we can find the next Floyd Mayweather."
— Brian Campbell (@BCampbellESPN) September 13, 2015"
If you wanted fireworks, this probably wasn't the fight for you, as Mayweather engineered another victory while staying on the defensive for most of the night.
Here are the judges' scores for the match, per the Guardian's Bryan Armen Graham: 120-108, 118-110 and 117-111.
The Wall Street Journal agreed with one of the judges. Here is how it scored the fight:
| Mayweather | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Berto | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Mayweather | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Berto | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
It looked like Mayweather was on the offensive to start, coming out with a number of jabs. But Berto let one of his only chances pass by early. Mayweather was bouncing around the ring, while Berto looked tentative to attack.
Mayweather baited Berto to start coming toward him in the second round, with the challenger landing a right, but there was no power behind it. It sparked Mayweather to start dancing around the ring, and every time Berto got close, they clinched.
It didn't matter how much Berto came at Mayweather in those first two rounds, as Sho Stats shows:
Berto kept throwing punches, attempting the same amount as Mayweather through four rounds. But Mayweather landed 66 of a possible 135, while Berto connected on just 18.
The champion was content on working the body, focusing on Berto's midsection while clinching. After six rounds Mayweather had landed 36 body blows to Berto's five. Berto wasn't focusing much on varying his punches as he threw a plethora of lefts and rights toward the face of Mayweather.
Mayweather was just far too quick, dodging Berto's gloves and providing few opportunities for counters. The lack of connecting blows seemed to aggravate the crowd, who at times booed the lack of action. In fact, fans watching the pay-per-view were more concerned about those in the crowd, including Tennessee Titans running back Leon Washington:
Berto continued to throw punches at Mayweather, but he couldn't hit him. Yet he fared slightly better than Manny Pacquiao did back in May, as ESPN Stats & Info broke down their punching success:
Mayweather pulled away for good in the eighth round, using success with his power punches by landing 14 of a possible 15 in the frame.
While Berto pursued Mayweather, the two had to be stopped and spoken to by the referee during the 10th round because of their trash-talking. After the short pause, Mayweather was back to normal, proving he was too quick for Berto.
It might have not been in the most dramatic of styles or in the most powerful of displays, but at the end of the night, Mayweather finished his career with a perfect 49-0 record and will be remembered among the greatest in the sport.
Match statistics courtesy of Sho Stats.
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