It was exactly what we expected, a noncompetitive matchup between the best fighter of his era and a fighter that never could win the big one.
Floyd, for his part, was brilliant, especially early on, and he seemed to fall into rhythm the moment the opening bell sounded. He counter punched as well as we’ve seen him and his offense was on point when he decided to engage first.
Andre Berto looked quick, his hands were fast, but Mayweather was fast and utilized his speed better – not even better but productive. That was the thing about Berto, he was absolutely lost in the ring.
Berto came out and fought the exact fight that everyone warned him against fighting. He did not attempt to adapt or change up his usual style, but instead he tried to utilize his best attributes, hoping that he’d find a way. He never did.
The 4th round was a decent showing from Berto, so too was the 7th. That said, Berto was rarely in the fight. His hands were flailing and when he missed he missed badly. Some of his shots were way off the mark and Floyd was so elusive that Berto couldn’t even fully commit to his punches, even when he was in the middle of throwing combinations.
The two fighters trashed talk each other throughout the fight, but the trash talk was over the top in the later rounds, so much so that referee Kenny Bayless called time and talked to both fighters about the verbal jabbing. I’m not sure if there is a rule against talking, but it seemed unnecessary to call a halt to the action when the talking was the most competitive aspect of the fight.
Floyd got more comfortable as the fight continued and it showed. Berto tried to do what he could and he even shifted his game plan to a rougher style, but it was pretty much for show.
The fight went the distance like most predicted and Floyd walked away with the unanimous decision on the scores of: 117-111, 118-110, and 120-108. The attendance was 13,395.
After the fight, Floyd stayed committed to his desire to retire and admitted this was his last fight.
I certainly hope he stays truthful.
You can look at the letdown that was Mayweather-Pacquiao and the sham that was Mayweather-Berto and think that it is sour grapes to not want to see Floyd ever again. When you consider the fact that he has never given fans a truly memorable fight and that he hasn’t scored a real stoppage in several years, it might seem like I’m being a hater suggesting he retire and stay retire.
The truth is I’m only considering what’s best for boxing. I fully admit that Floyd is the best right now in the game and there is no one fighter that can rival him. When you have a sport that is dominated by one man and that one man is not big on giving fans the most memorable nights in the sport’s history you have to consider whether or not it would be better for him to walk away and give other younger fighters the chance to claim the number one spot.
I want to see competitive matches at the highest level. The best fighters in boxing will propel themselves to even greater levels when they know the number one spot is on the line.
Let’s hope Mayweather stays retired, and then let’s hope that Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter, Kell Brook and Amir Khan become so desperate to claim that top spot that they commit to fighting each other right away. Let’s hope that Floyd’s void leads those young welterweights to pressure Al Haymon to making these match ups because that is the only way that boxing will matter again. And when I say matter again, I only mean that it can matter outside of just one man. We can view PPV fights as truly even contests between two fighters willing and able to give us memorable and competitive prize fights.
