LAS VEGAS ? Floyd Mayweather collapsed to his knees alone in mid-ring at final bell, looking skyward.
Whether his guidance has been divine or not, his professional boxing career certainly has been.
The Grand Rapids native dominated Andre Berto over 12 rounds Saturday and successfully defended his welterweight titles with a unanimous decision in what he said would be the final fight of his career Saturday before 13,395 at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Mayweather (49-0) retained his World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association “Super” titles in a bout with no knockdowns.
He equaled the record of Rocky Marciano, the mid-1900s heavyweight champion who has the most wins without a loss or draw by a retired title-holder.
“My career is over. It’s official. It’s official,” Mayweather said.
If Mayweather’s victory in a fight marked by trash-talking indeed is his finale, judge Adelaide Byrd saw it as perfection ? 120-108, a 12-0 clean sweep in rounds. Steve Weisfeld had it 118-110, and Dave Moretti 117-111.
MLive scored 119-111 for Mayweather.
“I’m leaving the sport with all my faculties,” Mayweather said. “I’m still sharp, I’m still smart.”
His declarations about retirement have raised suspicions for weeks, but he remained steadfast.
“The thing is, I’ve accomplished everything,” Mayweather said. “There’s nothing else to accomplish in the sport.”
Berto (30-4) acknowledged that “experience played a big part” in the fight.
“He’s real crafty, man, and he was using little things, smart things, and just kept me off my rhythm,” Berto said.
Asked what the chatter between the fighters was about, Berto smiled.
“You know, a guy like me, I’ve got a lot of pride,” Berto said. “A guy like Floyd, he’s got a lot of pride as well. Every time he hit me with a good shot, I said, ‘Here I come, let’s fight,’ and of course, he had to say his little thing as well.”
Mayweather was coming off a tactical win over Manny Pacquiao in a long-anticipated fight May 2, but against a lesser opponent in Berto, he went to mid-ring and engaged the fight from the opening bell. Berto found the champion an elusive target and a snapping Mayweather left hook punctuated a lopsided first round.
Through round two, CompuBox statistics had Mayweather with a 22-5 advantage in jabs, and his trademark left to the body, which forces opponents to reset offensively, repeatedly jarred Berto’s midsection.
Berto threw a lunging right hand in the third round that Mayweather ducked, causing him to lurch forward and touch the canvas, but referee Kenny Bayless correctly ruled it a slip.
Mayweather stung Berto with a right hand above the ear that forced the challenger to clinch in mid-ring during the fourth round. Berto was warned for a low blow in the fifth, but also landed a left hook that was his best punch of the fight and startled Mayweather.
By then, Mayweather was mixing more off-the-ropes offense to draw Berto into close quarters and conserve energy.
The seventh round was notable for a steady exchange late in the round, with both fighters landing snapping punches, and Berto barking at Mayweather as the bell sounded. Mayweather started by smiling slightly when he realized Berto was talking to him, then his face soured as he digested the remark.
Mayweather invested heavily in body work early in the fight, and by the eighth round, it started paying dividends as Berto’s attack slowed, and side-to-side movement troubled him.
Mayweather lured Berto back to the ropes in the ninth round, where his subtle inside work and ability to stand in the pocket without getting hit put him in complete control. Mayweather got the better of another big exchange late in the ninth round, but Showtime’s corner microphone caught him telling his father/trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr., that his left hand was hurt after that round.
In the 10th round, the possibility of pre-existing bad blood between the two ? there were hints of a past rivalry over a woman ? boiled over as Mayweather yapped incessantly at Berto, who also engaged the banter, prompting Bayless to separate them and regain order. The fighters smiled and tapped each other behind the head before resuming.
The talking continued after the 10th, and Bayless had to separate the fighters, but in attempting to push them toward their corners, he pushed them toward the wrong ones, then smiled as he realized the mistake.
Mayweather stuck out his tongue at the crowd during clinches in the 10th and 11th rounds, and in the latter, did a bull-and-matador dance with 30 seconds left which had a lunging Berto plummeting alone into a neutral corner. Mayweather spun to mid-ring, and the crowd erupted.
Mayweather started the 12th defensively, on the ropes, picking single shots. As what could be the final minute of his career began, he let fly with a big flurry off the ropes, before dancing away the final seconds.
Mayweather, 38, earned $32 million as his base purse, his seventh consecutive fight earning at least that amount, and the seven largest base guarantees in boxing history.
He made base purses of $32 million four other times (Miguel Cotto in 2012, Robert Guerrero in 2013, and both Marcos Maidana fights in 2014), $41.5 million against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in 2013, and $100 million against Pacquiao this year.
Berto, 32, of Winter Haven, Fla., earned a career-high $4 million.
Mayweather officially weighed in at 146 pounds Friday, one pound beneath the welterweight limit, to Berto’s career-low-equaling 145.
Fight week was marked by an SB Nation report that Mayweather may have taken an intravenous injection of saline and vitamins which is prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency after weighing in the night before his win over Pacquiao.
The report suggested the solution had to be administered in a hospital setting because the amount used ? 750 milliliters, or about three-fourths of a typical IV bag ? theoretically could serve as a masking agent. But WADA guidelines specify that the hospital requirement applies only the case if a temporary use exemption (TUE) isn’t granted.
Mayweather had a United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) collection official summoned to his home to verify compliance before accepting the infusion, sources told MLive. He was drug tested before and after the IV was administered, with the USADA collector present. The TUE was granted retroactively, as allowed under WADA rules, on May 20, 18 days after the fight.
“Mr. Mayweather has done nothing wrong,” Nevada State Athletic Commission chairman Bob Bennett told Showtime before the fight. “The Nevada State Athletic Commission has no interest in any type of investigation regarding his IV. He did not violate the WADA rules for any type of drugs and we have no issue.”
Mayweather was making his fifth defense of the WBC title he won from Victor Ortiz in 2011, after Ortiz lifted it from Berto that same year. It was his third defense of the WBA “Super” title he has held since beating Maidana in their first fight.
He has competed in 26 world championship fights in five weight classes, dating to 1998.
Mayweather spent most of the week as about a 20-1 man-to-man favorite, but those odds shriveled to 12-1 by opening bell ? minus-1800 on Mayweather, plus-600 on Berto.
Final CompuBox statistics had Berto throwing more punches, 495-410, but Mayweather outlanding him 232-83 ? a 57-percent connect rate for the champion, to 17 percent for the challenger.
