by David P. Greisman
The fight that Floyd Mayweather says will be his final bout is coming against Andre Berto, who while a former two-time welterweight titleholder is also someone who has gone 3-3 in his last six fights. Berto’s defeats came against two fighters Mayweather went on to beat (Victor Ortiz and Robert Guerrero), and to another fighter (Jesus Soto-Karass) who lost to someone else Mayweather defeated (Marcos Maidana).
Other fighters have ended their careers with relatively easy outings. But Mayweather is still on top of the sport and just came off a decision victory over one of the other best boxers of this generation, Manny Pacquiao. Given that, and the fact that the Sept. 12 bout is on pay-per-view, Mayweather-Berto has been criticized by many.
Mayweather says he hasn’t paid close attention to the criticism — and that he’s come to expect it anyway.
“I don’t even know. All I do everyday is I go to the gym, I train, I leave and I go eat, I go see shows on the strip, I go to the movies, I go bowling, go shopping, and that’s really about it, and am at home resting,” Mayweather said on a Sept. 12 conference call.
“It really don’t matter who I choose. They gonna always criticize. It comes with the territory,” he said. “I don’t read it. I don’t know about it. I can care less. Nobody’s forced to watch. Watch if you want to watch. If you don’t want to watch, don’t watch. Write about it if you want to write about it. If you don’t want to write about it, don’t. At the end of the day, if you write good or bad, just continue to write. Keep me relevant.”
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