I will retire as the best boxer to have lived — Mayweather

FLOYD Mayweather jnr. plans to go out unbeaten and on his own terms, as “The Best Ever”, when he ends his boxing career in Las Vegas on Saturday with his welterweight title defence against fellow American Andre Berto.

Should Mayweather win, as is widely expected, he would match the 49-0 record of former heavyweight great Rocky Marciano but says he would not be tempted to come out of retirement for a 50th fight.

“Forty-nine is my last fight,” the five-division world champion, aged 38, told reporters on a conference call this week before saying that self-preservation in the ring had always been a top priority.

“My health is more important. Anything can happen [in boxing]. I’m not really worried about losing.

“Of course, it’s always about self-preservation. I come first but I appreciate the fans. I do. The only thing I can do is believe in myself. I’m going to be TBE [The Best Ever] until the day I die.”

Many pundits have doubted Mayweather’s claim that he will end his career after the September 12 bout, pointing to the American’s U-turn when he came back from a 21-month retirement to fight Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in September 2009.

“Like I have said and Floyd has said a number of times, this will be his last fight,” Leonard Ellerbe, chief executive of Mayweather Promotions, said at the same conference call this week.

“Over the last week, I have received three major movie offers. We fully expect Floyd to be heavily, heavily involved in the entertainment industry because this is what he does right now . . . that is going to occupy a lot of his time.”

Ellerbe said there had been “significant” entertainment possibilities for the champion for when he calls it quits.

Boxing fans and pundits have hit out at the self-styled “Money” and “TBE”. His choice of Berto (30-3), who has lost three of his last six fights and was cherry-picked ahead of more exciting and dangerous men, has been slammed.

“When you are in my shoes, they are always going to criticise, that comes with the territory,” said Mayweather, the highest-earning sportsman in the world.

The experts may have written off Berto, 31, but Mayweather insists he is taking his opponent seriously and says he is training harder for the rank outsider than he did for his so-called “fight of the century” against Manny Pacquiao earlier this year.

He extended his unbeaten run with a unanimous points decision over the Filipino in a disappointing bout.

Underestimating Berto, an aggressive fighter who’s likely to be on the front foot against the defensively brilliant Mayweather, would be a dangerous mistake, said the champ.

Asked what he regarded as the greatest achievement of his career, he replied: “Every fight played a major key . . . and No 49 is going to be important also. But my career’s not over yet.”

Berto is a two-time former welterweight world champion.—