By Rick Reeno
MGM Grand, Las Vegas - WBC/WBA welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (48-0, 26KOs) insists that he's never going to fight again, after entering the ring on Saturday night to defend his world titles against former two-time beltholder Andre Berto.
On Tuesday afternoon, when he sat with the media and answered questions regarding his post-boxing future, he was asked for his opinion as to which fighter will become the number one guy in the sport. Mayweather took a minute to think about the answer and then surprised a few people when he named his May 2 opponent, Manny Pacquiao, as the guy who will sit on the throne as the top fighter in the sport post-September 12.
"Probably Manny Pacquiao. We can't just take [his recognition and accomplishments] away from him. We can't just take that away from him because he lost to me. I would say Manny Pacquiao," Mayweather said.
Mayweather won a twelve round unanimous decision over Pacquiao, and the fight crushed every existing financial record in the sport.
Besides Pacquiao, Mayweather strongly believes that undefeated welterweight contender Errol Spence will also become a major player in the next few years. Spence (17-0, 14KOs) returns to action on Friday in Canada, as part of the Premier Boxing Champions co-feature against Chris Van Heerdan.
"Eventually, he's [going to be one of the top guys. He's one of the top guys who is going to make a lot of noise in the sport. But it takes a lot more than just being able to fight. We got a heavyweight out there who has a lot of knockouts and he's still not a household name [a reference to WBC champion Deontay Wilder]. It takes a lot," Mayweather said.