By Jake Donovan
For as many times as he’s asked the question of whether or not he’s returning to the ring, Floyd Mayweather always grins and insists that he’s fine in his current role as a promoter.
Then again, his latest tease of a possible comeback didn’t come in the form of a question but instead the former five-division champion bluntly putting it out there.
“I'm happy to be where I am at. I'm happy on this side for now,” Mayweather (49-0, 26KOs) told Showtime’s Jim Grey prior to the start of Badou Jack’s eventual 12-round draw with Lucian Bute in Washington, DC.
Mayweather was in town as the lead promoter for the event, as Bute fights under the Mayweather Promotions banner. It’s a role he’s enjoyed for the past three years, but on a full-time basis ever since announcing his retirement following his near-shutout of Andre Berto last September in Las Vegas to cap the most lucrative career in the history of the sport.
With the amount of money he’s left on the table in deciding to walk away at that point, it’s understandable why many would speculate upon an inevitable return. Without even being asked of any external efforts being made to bring him back into the sport, the longtime pound-for-pound king cracked open a door that was once slammed shut.
“I've been talking with CBS and SHO; sometimes, you never know,” Mayweather mentioned, raising the topic as if anticipating the question was coming. “Right now some crazy numbers have been thrown my way, upwards of nine figures.
“Right now, I really don't know what we're going to do. You never know.”
It’s impossible to imagine his making any crazier numbers than the massive pile of cash he collected in the richest fight in boxing history last May. That moment, of course, came in his 12-round domination of longtime pound-for-pound rival Manny Pacquiao, scoring a landslide decision in a cash-grab event that left fans more disgusted with how the night played out than excited that the fight finally happened after more than five years of back-and-forth in the media.
The obvious allure of a ring return would be the ability to collect another massive payday, while also pursuing an even 50-0 mark. It is falsely assumed that Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 mark was an overall boxing record, when in fact it’s just the mark for the most consecutive wins for an undefeated heavyweight champion.
Nevertheless, it was viewed as an odd place to leave off for Mayweather, who could easily hit 50 – and more – given his career-long superiority over the rest of the field spanning five weight classes.
With renewed speculation of a ring return now comes the curiosity of the level of opposition it would take to complete the comeback.
The first name mentioned was unbeaten, unified middleweight titlist Gennady Golovkin (35-0, 32KOs), as a win there would give Mayweather a title win in a sixth weight class.
It also helps that Golovkin is among the most popular active fighters in the sport, which would go a long way in reestablishing Mayweather’s blockbuster status at the box-office.
For now, the thought of pursuing a middleweight title – or at least any that are in Golovkin’s possession – isn’t quite at the forefront.
“Triple GGG, I think it's best that he go up and fight Andre Ward. That's a good matchup,” Mayweather suggested.
Perhaps he is blind to the fact that Ward is now campaigning at light heavyweight and on course to face Sergey Kovalev later this fall. Or simply that he wants to see Golovkin move up in weight before Mayweather chooses to move up on more division.
“How can Floyd fight at 160 when I never make 154,” he asked. Despite having won super welterweight titles on three separate occasions, Mayweather has never weighed more than 151-pounds in the ring, his weight for a May ’12 victory over Miguel Cotto.
With that came discussion of possible matchups at welterweight, where he spent the majority of his final nine years in the pro ranks.
“Danny Garcia, another name. Tremendous champion. You just never know,” Mayweather noted of the unbeaten two-division titlist who now holds a welterweight title.
Also of interest to Showtime was whether he’d consider facing the winner of the June 25 showdown between unbeaten welterweight titlist Keith Thurman and former beltholder Shawn Porter, which airs live in primetime on CBS from Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The ability to head into the event with the clearance to pitch Mayweather as a viable option for the victor would do wonders for that promotion.
However, neither boxer is under the Mayweather Promotions banner, which numbs his motivation to lend his support to that cause.
“Thurman and Porter are both good fighters,” Mayweather acknowledged. “But I'm happy to be on this side. All I want to do is continue to build my company, guys like Badou Jack.
“If I came back, of course it would have to be for a nine-figure payday.”
If there is validity to his claims of such talks having already taken place, then it seems that the brass at CBS Corp, Inc. are on standby with checkbook in hand.
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Follow him on his shiny new Twitter account: @JakeNDaBox_v2