By Keith Idec

Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s reminded those who’ve slammed his decision to fight Andre Berto that they aren’t obligated to pay to watch it.

“I hear I’ve been getting backlash and he’s been getting backlash,” Mayweather said during a press conference Thursday in Los Angeles to officially announce the Mayweather-Berto pay-per-view bout scheduled for Sept. 12 in Las Vegas. “No one is forced to buy the fight. I appreciate it, but no one is forced to buy the fight.

“But Andre Berto is going to push Floyd Mayweather to the limit. That’s one thing that I do know. So come Sept. 13, I don’t want you guys saying, ‘Damn! I missed the fight.’ The difference between Andre Berto and Manny Pacquiao is you guys put all the hype in Manny Pacquiao. That’s what the media did. The media put all the hype in Manny Pacquiao. My job was to go out there and be Floyd Mayweather, be a chess-player. And that’s what I did. I found a way to win. But this fight is a very, very intriguing matchup – very intriguing.”

The 38-year-old Mayweather (48-0, 26 KOs) earned more than $200 million for his May 2 victory over Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs), a fight that generated more revenue than any event in boxing history yet drew an enormous amount of criticism because it wasn’t exciting. The 31-year-old Berto (30-3, 23 KOs), though a two-time welterweight champion, is 3-3 in his last six fights, including a 12th-round TKO loss to Mexico’s Jesus Soto Karass (28-10-3, 18 KOs, 1 NC) two years ago in San Antonio.

The card headlined by Mayweather-Berto will cost $74.95 on Showtime Pay-Per-View, $25 less than the unprecedented price for Mayweather-Pacquiao.

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.