Floyd Mayweather has officially confirmed his opponent for what is planned to be his final fight. It’s not whom fans wanted and they have unloaded on “Money” via social media.
Mayweather took to his Instagram account to confirm, as has been widely reported, that he will face Andre Berto (30-3-0, 23 knockouts) — a Haitian-American fighter who is a mediocre 3-3 in his past six fights.
The bout is set for Sept. 12 in Las Vegas.
https://instagram.com/p/5-czWmx3SP/?taken-by=floydmayweather
While fans badly wanted to see Mayweather take on the likes of Amir Khan or even unbeaten wrecking machine Gennady Golovkin, the unbeaten American has opted for what looks a safe fight to potentially end his career. Mayweather is trying to match heavyweight legend Rocky Marciano by retiring with a perfect 49-0 record.
“My last fight is in September, then it’s time for me to hang it up,” Mayweather said after beating long-time rival Manny Pacquiao in May.
“You know, I’m almost 40 years old now, I’ve been in the sport 19 years, I’ve been world champion for 18 years, and I’m truly, truly thankful and I’m blessed.”
The fan backlash against Mayweather was immediate, disappointed and savage.
It’s not only fans. Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix wrote this about Mayweather’s choice:
But we, like so many of you, are exasperated. Mayweather is a living legend. He’s not the best of all time, but he is somewhere on the list, a rare talent we may not see the likes of again for generations. But he steadfastly refuses to properly show it. Personally, I think Mayweather destroys [Keith] Thurman. I think he outboxes [Timothy] Bradley. I think he flattens [Amir] Khan. But since beating Oscar De La Hoya in 2007, Mayweather has bobbed and weaved away from top opponents he would have been heavily favored against and signed on to face ones with glaring flaws. He’s Pedro Martinez, if Pedro in the late ’90’s said to Boston, ‘You know what, I think I’m going to go pitch in the Independent League.’
Experts, novices and everyone in between continue to be befuddled by Mayweather.