Nearly 40 and Undefeated.....

Don't know about the rest of you....but if I was nearly 40 and clearly 'Undefeated' and sitting with the kind of cash and assets Mayweather has, I don't think I would chance changing my title to 'Defeated'. All IMHO and I am not a professional sports player of course. Having such a monumental title as 'undefeated' I sure wouldn't want to lose that.

Quote: Baccaratfrom79

Don't know about the rest of you....but if I was nearly 40 and clearly 'Undefeated' and sitting with the kind of cash and assets Mayweather has, I don't think I would chance changing my title to 'Defeated'. All IMHO and I am not a professional sports player of course. Having such a monumental title as 'undefeated' I sure wouldn't want to lose that.

IMO it almost has to be the money. Whatever he has, it may not be enough.

Quote: beachbumbabs

IMO it almost has to be the money. Whatever he has, it may not be enough.

The money is what keeps him boxing, of course - who doesn't work at least in part for the money? - but "risking his undefeated status" is not an excuse for retiring, especially as he would always be dogged with, "Sure, you're undefeated, but you never fought Pacquiao, did you?"

There's always something about "what if" that bugs some people. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the reasons Sugar Ray Leonard came out of retirement to fight Marvin Hagler was that he - and probably Hagler as well - was tired of answering a similar question.

But there comes a point when it all has to cease. Official retirement announced, denounced, etc. All I know is a lot changed for me when I hit 40--45 range. I have done other career moves and in fact--one of them when I was in NYC I went out at the top of my game with a conscious decision that was--look at what I did and maintained. Granted, he is in a whole other league by countless numbers than I. If I had true wealth, not richness, I would (IMHO) desire that 'undefeated' title to continue. Brett Favre, kind of comes to mind.

Lions are most dangerous when they get older and feel the need to be that young brash self one last time. Perhaps it's not only the hundred million he'll get paid, but a bit of a last stand?

I respect boxing an unbelievable amount, mostly because I box quite frequently as part of my MMA training. One little rant I'll share is it really annoys me that a boxer at the highest caliber such as this will make 100-200 million FOR ONE FIGHT, when the top level MMA fighter only gets like $500,000 per fight. Yes, they're both ridiculously rich, but that's not the point. The point is these two run in to each other on the street for some hand to hand combat, I see the boxer losing 9 times out of 10... Yet because their sport is older they are more celebrated 'fighters,' which annoys me. Okay, end rant...

There was a time when the boxing "Association" or "Federation" or "Council" would strip titles from fighters who ducked competitors. The onset of Don King, and his self created and run promotion machine took the teeth out of the system and made prize fighting a joke.

If Mayweather had ducked Paciao back then like he has done for the past several years, he would have lost his belt a long time ago. I think the old school system was better.

Prize fighting has become more like the WWE and less like the UFC. It is sad.

Quote: Ayecarumba

There was a time when the boxing "Association" or "Federation" or "Council" would strip titles from fighters who ducked competitors.

After which, a new organization would have made a name for itself by declaring the fighter its first champion and setting up a "title unification" match. Whoever heard of the WBO before it sanctioned the Leonard - LaLonde fight in a weight class nobody else had (so Leonard could be the first with titles in five different weight classes)? Who noticed that The Ring magazine didn't declare its own champions, until one day it named Michael Spinks its heavyweight champion almost certainly so somebody could promote Tyson-Spinks as "for the undisputed heavyweight championship"? I'm still waiting for the WBG (World Boxing Guys), IBT (International Boxing Types), and East 34th Street Ladies' Tuesday Afternoon Social Club, Boxing Federation, and Country Music Awards Association.

Boxing Federation Shenanigans Trivia: what heavyweight champion holds the record for the fewest title fights won?

Quote: Romes

I respect boxing an unbelievable amount, mostly because I box quite frequently as part of my MMA training. One little rant I'll share is it really annoys me that a boxer at the highest caliber such as this will make 100-200 million FOR ONE FIGHT, when the top level MMA fighter only gets like $500,000 per fight.

Someone on twitter said that Floyd and Manny's floor of $250,000,000 is more than every UFC fighter combined made from 2005-2011.

As to the OP, Floyd and his team are unbelievably shrewd matchmakers. I'm sure they expect to win. Moreover, Floyd wants to be remembered as in the conversation for the GOAT. A win (maybe 2) against Manny fills out the resume. Even if they are both past their absolute peak, it's still the p4p number 1 vs. the p4p number 3.