By Mark Vester
At the post-fight press conference following his title winning effort over WBC welterweight champion Carlos Baldomir in Las Vegas, new champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr. announced to the media that he will retire from boxing after one more fight, and it does not matter if the final fight is Oscar De La Hoya.
Mayweather called his friends to the podium and made the retirement speech as he began to cry before dozens of stunned media members.
"One more fight and that's it for me," said Mayweather. "I love the sport, but I don't need boxing. I'm not in this sport for the money. I'm in this sport for the legacy. I've done everything I wanted to do. I have been at the top for so long. I'm happy."
Mayweather has a February HBO pay-per-view date, and the recent announcement puts the date in jeopardy. De La Hoya is planning to fight in May, and Mayweather is likely to hold out on his next fight until De La Hoya makes up his mind on whether or not he will fight again, and if Mayweather will indeed be his final opponent.
Members of the media left the press conference unsure if Mayweather will actually go through with the retirement plans after his next fight.
A lifelong boxing trend is fighters announcing their retirement, and then coming back at some point in time. Some come back right away, and others like George Foreman come back ten years later.
Just ask Acelino Freitas who recently announced his retirement, and then announced he was coming out of retirement only a few weeks later. Or, Bernard Hopkins who retired in June after beating Antonio Tarver, and then a few months later made it known that he wanted to come out of retirement to face heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev.
The Mayweather camp showed their appreciation to the press, by handing out Icelink watches to members of the media that attended the post-fight press conference.
