Floyd Mayweather was ready to return to the ring for an exhibition bout in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on May 14, but the event was postponed the day before due to the death of the country’s president, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Since he officially retired in 2017, Mayweather has been fighting in exhibition bouts, but is that a sign he wants to return — one more time? How about archrival Manny Pacquiao? He just lost his bid to become president of the Philippines and could also make a return. Is that good for him and boxing?
One fighter that should return — to super middleweight after losing to Dmitry Bivol at light heavyweight — is Canelo Alvarez. But can he return to the top of the pound-for-pound list after dropping all the way to No. 4? And how does Bivol match up with the other two champions in the division, Artur Beterbiev and Joe Smith Jr., who meet to unify three belts on June 18?
Waiting in the wings is David Benavidez, who fights on Saturday against veteran David Lemieux. Is he ready for Alvarez?
Mike Coppinger, Michael Rothstein and Ben Baby answer these questions and more.
Would you like Floyd Mayweather to make a comeback? There is no part of me that wants to see Floyd Mayweather in the ring. If I really want to see him in action, I’ll go on YouTube and find highlights of him from 2001 to 2005, when he was beating the likes of Diego Corrales, Arturo Gatti and Jose Luis Castillo.
That’s when he was truly entertaining. As Mayweather got older and moved up in weight, his ability to become polarizing and evoke strong emotions among even casual fans was the most intriguing thing about him. Toward the end of his career, he rarely knocked fighters down or even hurt them.
Since he beat Andre Berto in 2015, Mayweather has pushed the boundaries of matchmaking in order to continue to find lucrative paydays, perhaps his greatest skill as a prizefighter. He manufactured a bout against former UFC champion Conor McGregor in order to claim a 50-0 professional record. Last year, he fought internet star Logan Paul in a highly consumed pay-per-view.
But even this aspect of Mayweather’s business strategy is slowing down. His latest foil was scheduled to be Don Moore, a man whose last fight was in 2016 against someone with a 5-16-1 record according to BoxRec, before being postponed. But the fight was postponed following the death of the United Arab Emirates president, Shiekh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Even if the fight had occurred, however, we might be asking the wrong question. Has the market to see Mayweather in the ring for any type of combat dried up? — Ben Baby
Will Manny Pacquiao return to boxing after losing the presidential elections in the Philippines?
He shouldn’t. Not at all. He’s 43 years old, and who knows exactly how much he’s been training? At some point, it’s good for boxers to stop fighting, and after 72 career fights, the future Hall of Famer should enjoy retirement. I know it’s hard for boxers to do that, but Pacquiao clearly has vast interests outside boxing — evidenced by his long, concurrent political career in the Philippines, a foray into basketball and music. He still can be in touch with boxing with his MP Promotions company, but just don’t do it inside the ring.
Boxing is full of fighters who didn’t know the right time to walk away. Pacquiao first fought professionally in 1995, at age 16, more than half a lifetime ago — longer than up-and-comers Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Vergil Ortiz Jr. have been alive.
Pacquiao, even with a loss to Yordenis Ugas last year, has every reason to look back on his career with immense pride. But that’s what he needs to be doing: Looking back at what he did instead of kicking around the idea of what he still might be able to do. — Michael Rothstein
