In 2008 did Mayweather leave boxing because the welterweight divsion was dangerous

[Larry the boss]

He took 18 months off..if the division was so hot then why wasn't it still hot when he returned?

[Kneeguel Cotto]

He went back to grade school like Billy Madison. He flunked out and came back to baxin'

[slipcatchroll]

He took 18 months off..if the division was so hot then why wasn't it still hot when he returned?

Because apparently they all went through wars with each other and were shot by the time Floyd fought them. You know how it is with these guys.

[djtmal]

He left to maximize his earning power and marketability. It worked. He and cotto both made 4-5 times what they would have for the fight in 2008. Felt bad for Paul but he was high risk, no reward then got upset by Quintana which really hurt his chances of landing a big money fight.

Get over it, move on.

Could you say it probably backfired in terms of Pacquaio? they way i see it, his earning potential probably would have been 5x greater, 5 years ago, than it would be now, when the fight was red red hot, and was always a bigger fight than floyd/cotto.

Of course, without getting into your, if pacquaio would have taken the tests, rhetoric

[Larry the boss]

Ya'll keep saying this crap..but he came back in 2009 and what the division was no longer hot? why?? everyone was still at ww right? except Paul Williams

[-Kev-]

Yeah because if he stayed in boxing for 2008, he was going to strike deals with Bob Arum to fight Cotto, Margarito, and Clottey. Sure.

Neither of those fights were gonna happen in 2008-2009 unless the fighters left TR, like Cotto finally did in 2012 and the fight happened. Paul Williams was a Haymon fighter, at the time Haymon didn't allow his fighters to fight eachother. Williams was also not a draw, like Cotto and Margarito fans like to claim when he is brought up to them.

[djtmal]

He took 18 months off..if the division was so hot then why wasn't it still hot when he returned?

When the coast is clear, possibly?

Floyd fights guys when the timing is perfect. I think thats a clear pattern

[PACnPBFsuck]

2 threads in first page of why Floyd retired, that's gotta be some sort of record.

[2120]

Hell yeah he took a vacation when the division got to hot!!!

[Bullrider]

It's probably not so easy to avoid fights at that time without being called a chicken. His only recourse was to retire even though he was still young. But now you can avoid fights in broad daylight and still have a decent, profitable career especially if you're with Haymon.

What I'm wondering about is was he the youngest undefeated to retire early?