The finest prizefighter of his generation did exactly what everyone expected against an opponent few believed worthy of sharing a ring with him. Floyd Mayweather coasted to a one-sided unanimous decision over the hopelessly overmatched Andre Berto before 13,395 fans on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The judges at ringside turned in scores of 120-108, 118-110 and 117-111. (The Guardian had it 120-108.)
Somehow it wasn’t even that close. The unbeaten Mayweather, a world champion for nearly all of his adult life across five weight classes, was in control from bell to bell of his 49th professional fight in defence of his WBC and WBA welterweight titles. The victory moved him level with Rocky Marciano, the former heavyweight champion who retired with a record of 49-0 in 1956.
Afterwards, he announced his retirement during an in-ring interview, though few believe he will quit before surpassing Marciano’s mark. Having fulfilled his six-fight contract with CBS and Showtime, he’s effectively a free agent who can name his own price for the record-breaking fight next year.
Floyd Mayweather v Andre Berto – as it happened
Round-by-round report: Floyd Mayweather extended his perfect record to 49-0 with a comfortable points win over Andre Berto in Las Vegas
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The only question surrounding Saturday’s glorified workout was whether Berto, a former welterweight title-holder years past his best, was shopworn enough after three losses in six fights for Mayweather to deliver his first clean knockout victory in eight years. Not since a 10th-round TKO of Ricky Hatton in 2007 had Mayweather stopped an opponent inside the distance, save for a controversial knockout of Victor Ortiz that happened when the naive challenger was attempting to apologise for a head butt.
Berto (30-3, 23 KOs) managed to finish the fight on his feet, but little more. He connected with just 83 of 495 punches (17%), compared to 232 of 410 for Mayweather (57%).
Berto appeared tense from the opening bell as Mayweather slipped nearly every jab fired his way. When he wasn’t trying to bully the champion against the ropes, the Florida native was trying to outbox him in the centre of the ring. It was difficult to tell which idea was worse.
For pockets Mayweather was as aggressive as he’s been in recent memory – like when he sprung from corner at the start of the third round to meet Berto at the center of the ring with a lunging right – but those moments were brief. By the fourth Berto looked gassed, though to his credit he continued to press forward. “He’s very smart,” Berto said afterwards. “He knows how to take his time.”
Mayweather let his hands go in the sixth, peppering Berto with a left hook, a right hook and an uppercut followed by an combination to the body. It was his biggest round of the fight. Berto rallied moderately in the seventh, but Mayweather landed a stinging uppercut in the eighth followed by a flurry of punches upstairs that left Berto looking confused. It was then when Mayweather began clowning the challenger, pirouetting away effortlessly with his hands at his waistline as he talked trash incessantly.
With the result all but in hand entering the championship rounds, Mayweather looked bored. He danced about and played to the crowd, gliding around the ring with the same quickness he’d shown in the opening round, demonstrating remarkable conditioning for a fighter within 17 months of his 40th birthday. At one point Berto missed so wildly with a hook that he appeared to completely lose sight of his target. The partisan Mayweather crowd roared with delight. The final round was more of the same as Mayweather landed one stinging blow, an uppercut late in the round, and danced out of harm’s way until the bell rang.
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After the final bell, Mayweather confirmed the main selling point of an abbreviated promotion that often felt slapdash and stripped down: that he is officially retired. “You have to know when to hang it up,” he said. “I’m knocking at the door. I’m close to 40 years old. I’ve been in this sport 19 years, been a world champion 18 years, broke all the records. There’s nothing else to prove in the sport of boxing.”
The win won’t do anything to enhance Mayweather’s legacy as the finest prizefighter of his generation. But what will essentially be remembered as a footnote in the five-division champion’s career – if it’s remembered at all – certainly won’t hurt Mayweather’s bottom line. He earned a minimum of $32m for Saturday’s light workout, not including his undisclosed cut of the pay-per-view receipts. Berto earned a career-high $4m.
Strip away all the hype, the pomp, the excess, the money and the bluster of Money Mayweather and you’re left with a fighter who reached the summit by supplementing divine natural gifts with untold hours of hard work and dedication behind the scenes.
“He trains why everybody’s sleeping,” said Badou Jack, a fighter in Mayweather’s budding promotional outfit who defended his WBC middleweight title against George Groves on Saturday’s undercard. “He’s a workaholic. He works like he’s broke. He trains like he’s broke.”
The greatest champions win titles when they’re young and keep them until they’re old, a test Mayweather passes. If Saturday is indeed his final fight – and let it be said it’s almost certainly not – then Floyd retires as one of the greatest to ever do it.
“I’ve accomplished everything, there’s nothing else to accomplish,” Mayweather quipped. “Money don’t make me, I make money.”
