Floyd Mayweather Jr., centre, stands with referee Kenny Bayless, right, after defeating Andre Berto during their welterweight title boxing bout.Photo: AP
Floyd Mayweather earned a unanimous decision over Andre Berto on Saturday to claim his 49th victory in a glittering unbeaten ring career spanning two decades.
All three judges ruled in Mayweather’s favour and afterwards the American welterweight world champion confirmed that he was retiring.
“My career is over,” he said. “It’s official.” He equals the perfect 49-0 record of heavyweight legend Rocky Marciano and retains his WBA and WBC titles, embellishing his reputation as the best boxer of his generation.
The 38-year-old self-styled “TBE” (”The Best Ever”), who has consistently said that the Berto showdown would be the last time he steps into the ring, had too much guile and nous for the rank outsider.
Berto, who has now lost four of his last seven fights, was set up as the fall guy for the pound-for-pound king’s coronation – and he played the role perfectly, showing plenty of heart but not quite enough quality.
Mayweather has his critics, but he was given a hero’s welcome at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas by a boisterous crowd who had come expecting to see him give Berto, 32, an old-fashioned shellacking.
Mayweather has a go at his opponent, BertoPhoto: AP
He did not quite do that, but instead used his sublime defensive skills to avoid the worst that Berto – a former two-time world champion – could throw at him.
Berto kept coming at Mayweather; Mayweather would land a quick-fire combination and then dart out of trouble again – to roars of approval for the man fans have taken to calling simply “Money.”
Even when he had Mayweather against the ropes Berto found it hard to connect with anything meaningful.
The first real taste of a fight breaking out came …Read More
Source:: PM Newspaper
