By Jake Donovan
There is very little that Floyd Mayweather hasn’t accomplished through 48 fights over the span of nearly 19 years in the pro ranks. The bronze medal he was forced to accept in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics was the last time he endured a loss, having run the tables in collecting major titles in five weight classes and establishing himself as the greatest fighter of his generation.
Of the belief there isn’t much left to achieve, the reigning World welterweight champion and pound-for-pound king has declared September 12 to be his last ever fight. The evening will be spent defending his crown versus former welterweight titlist Andre Berto at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, a venue he has headlined in his past 11 fights.
Among that stretch include the three highest grossing live gates in boxing history, setting and breaking his own box-office and Pay-Per-View revenue records in each of wins over Oscar de la Hoya (May ’07), Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (Sept. ’13) and Manny Pacquiao (May ’15).
When the fight with Berto (30-3, 23KOs) was first announced, Mayweather was asked if he could live with ending his career at 49-0, and not being tempted to go after win number 50. His answer at the time was that he could have easily just went out at 48-0, with the $220 million-plus payday he collected in the win over Pacquiao—in addition to the actual win itself—enough to satisfy anyone’s needs for a lifetime.
Still, there is one regret to which he admits.
Mayweather turned pro in Oct. 1996, with the early years spent under the management of James Prince and under the Top Rank promotional banner. The troubled relationship with Prince lasted until 2003, at which point he hooked up with high-powered, low-profile adviser Al Haymon. Three years later in mid-2006, Mayweather bought himself out of his contract with Top Rank.
By then, he collected titles at super featherweight, lightweight, super lightweight and welterweight. He was a star on the rise, but had only just begun to break through in the Pay-Per-View market, starting with his June ’05 wipeout of the late Arturo Gatti in front of a hostile crowd in Atlantic City.
It wasn’t until Mayweather became his own boss for good, beginning with his World welterweight championship win over Carlos Baldomir in Nov. ’05. From his helping launch HBO’s award-winning 24/7 documentary-style boxing reality series to the manner in which fighters are now treated today (particularly with Haymon's launching of the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) series, Mayweather helped redefine the game on both sides of the ropes.
With title wins in five weight classes and ownership of the highest grossing fights on HBO and Showtime, as well as earning more than any two combined fighters in boxing history, Mayweather can claim to have done it all, and having done most of it on his own terms.
Looking back, his only wish is that he had the pieces in place to have done so from the start.
“I regret not having (adviser) Al Haymon from the beginning of my career,” Mayweather confessed of the one thing he wishes he could have done different in his Hall of Fame career.
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com.
Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
Facebook Page: JakeBScene