LAS VEGAS ? Boxing will be a vastly different sport, for better and for worse, when Floyd Mayweather finally walks away for good.
He says his welterweight title fight with Andre Berto on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden will be the finale of his illustrious career, the greatness of which will be debated by boxing historians.
Mayweather will be remembered as one of the sport?s finest defensive fighters, alongside the likes of the legendary Willie Pep and Pernell Whitaker, among a handful of others.
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There?s little doubt that he?s been one of the fittest fighters to compete at the sport?s highest level. He was never out of shape and never faded in the late rounds of his championship fights.
For at least the last 10 years, and perhaps the last 15, he?s been the sport?s unquestioned best fighter. He?s been the Super Bowl for just about everyone he?s faced. Everyone trained a little harder and prepared a little more seriously, knowing a win over him would unlock the key to untold riches.
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Floyd Mayweather Jr., left, and Andre Berto square off Saturday night. (AP) Yet, every time, Mayweather prevailed.
He went from a man derided in his early years for his inability to sell tickets to the sport?s unquestioned biggest draw.
Despite his many achievements, though, there will be many who will be happy to see him leave the big stage.
His history of domestic violence turned off many. He only went to jail for it once, and when he did, there was outrage among a large segment of the population when the Nevada district court judge handling the case allowed him to fight Miguel Cotto in 2012 before serving his sentence.
After all, Mayweather vowed to defeat Diego Corrales in 2001 on behalf of all battered women ? Corrales had been convicted of domestic violence before their Jan. 20, 2001, fight and was going to be sent to jail after it ? but far too many times over the next decade-plus Mayweather was accused of being a batterer himself.
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He wasn?t willing to accept the status quo, to play the game that had been played for decades. Hall of Famer Bob Arum, Mayweather?s first professional promoter, saw him as an amateur and envisioned the second coming of Sugar Ray Leonard.
Leonard became not only one of the greatest fighters in boxing history, but also one of the most popular attractions in the late 1970s and throughout the ?80s.
Both Leonard and Mayweather had dazzling smiles and otherworldly skills. They were fast, they were agile and they had the ability to make an opponent look amateurish.
Mayweather, though, chafed at the comparison. He wanted no part of that. He pleaded with Arum for years to promote him differently.
Arum, though, had a formula that worked with Leonard and was convinced the same would succeed for Mayweather.
Mayweather wanted a larger say in his career than Arum was willing to give him. He desired to be involved in all aspects of his career when it was common for most fighters only to be involved in the boxing parts of it.
When Arum kept pushing Antonio Margarito as a potential opponent, Mayweather kept saying no. This was a guy Mayweather likely would have beaten handily given Margarito?s slow hands and leaden feet.
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Floyd Mayweather was sentenced to a 90-day jail term for domestic violence in September 2010. (AP) But Margarito was unquestionably heavy handed and knew how to pressure, and though Manny Pacquiao took him apart easily in their 2010 fight, there are still some who believe that the 2006-08 version of Margarito would have been able to cause Mayweather some serious problems.
Mayweather lost a portion of the fan base for not saying yes to the match, but fan opinion mattered little to him.
Mayweather turned out to be correct in believing in his way, because as soon as he was allowed to control his career, his notoriety in the sport, his drawing power and his paychecks skyrocketed.
When HBO created the preview series ?24/7? to promote his May 5, 2007, bout with Oscar De La Hoya, Mayweather saw it as an opportunity.
He portrayed himself as an over-the-top, ostentatious character who knew no bounds. He changed his nickname from ?Pretty Boy? Floyd to ?Money May,? and he?d boast incessantly about his wealth and what it did for him.
It was a clever way to attract mainstream attention and expand beyond the comparatively small boxing audience.
He became a celebrity much the way Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian became celebrities. It wasn?t so much for any particular talent, because the mainstream doesn?t care much for boxing talent. It was because of the opulent lifestyle he portrayed.
The rise also was aided brilliant moves to appear on ?Dancing with the Stars? and in the WWE, which greatly enhanced his visibility outside of boxing.
But that recognition came at a price when he couldn?t control himself. On Sept. 2, 2010, as Pacquiao was preparing to face Margarito, Mayweather released a bizarre video on uStream in which he accused Pacquiao of taking performance-enhancing drugs and made racist comments.
It was disgusting and one of the low points of his career.
He stayed away from boxing for more than a year after that rant and, whether intentional or not, it was a wise move. By the time he returned to fight Victor Ortiz at the MGM Grand on Sept. 17, 2011, most of those ugly words were forgotten.
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Floyd Mayweather’s place in boxing history is difficult to decide. (AFP) Berto will on Saturday become the 16th consecutive current or former world champion to face Mayweather when they square off for Mayweather?s WBA and WBC welterweight titles. In all, Mayweather will have fought 24 current or former champions a total of 26 times in his 49 bouts.
He?s set an unbelievably high standard of greatness and deserves to be regarded among the best fighters who ever lived. He is, without doubt, the best of his era.
But his constant talk about money became tired and detracted from interest in the actual fights in the ring. Many of his fans aren?t all that interested in boxing and were simply awed by the massive paydays he accumulated.
He?ll earn a guarantee of $32 million to face Berto on Saturday, a pittance compared to the approximately $250 million he made for defeating Pacquiao in May.
Still, a $32 million guarantee, with upside from the pay-per-view broadcast, is more than all but a handful of fighters have ever earned in a single bout. His insistence on independence helped him earn a bigger portion of the pie than other fighters traditionally had received, and that will be a positive when considering his legacy.
When he?s gone, whether it be Saturday or sometime next year after chasing a 50th win, he?ll leave boxing a very different business than he found it.
Whether that?s more good or bad will depend upon one?s perspective.
What is clear, though, is that while he?ll be gone, he surely won?t be forgotten.
