Is Floyd Mayweather Jr. contemplating a return, or just throwing one more jab at a longtime rival?
For the five months since he easily defeated Andre Berto to improve to 49-0, Mayweather has been steadfast he will remain retired. Until now.
Mayweather told FightHype this week he would consider fighting Danny Garcia as a way to slow down — or steal away — the hype of the much-anticipated Canelo Alvarez-Amir Khan middleweight championship fight on May 7.
Alvarez is promoted by Oscar De La Hoya, who lost to Mayweather in 2007 in a split decision, and the rivals have exchanged barbs through the media in the nine years since.
“You know, I can easily put a halt on [Canelo-Khan] if I chose to call Mr. Garcia, (Danny) Garcia’s dad,” Mayweather told the website. “If I chose to call him and say, ‘You know what, sir, you’re a hell of a trainer. Your son’s a hell of a fighter, he’s an undefeated champion, I’m an undefeated champion, and I think it would be great for me and your son both to make a lot of money. And like I said before, you’re very outspoken, my dad is very outspoken.’
“It would be good for me to come back for number 50 and fight the undefeated Danny Garcia, you know, at the MGM Grand. You know, since Danny Garcia is undefeated and he’s very explosive, he’s a very good fighter, and he really represents Puerto Rico the same way that [Felix] Trinidad [did]. Even though he’s from Philadelphia, he represents the red, white, and blue for Puerto Rico. I’ll go over to the MGM Grand and say, ‘You know what? We need a venue also,’ and we’ll see [what happens].”
Mayweather noted that he defeated Alvarez in 2013, while Garcia, who is 32-0 and the WBC welterweight champion, defeated Khan in 2012. Khan long tried to convince Mayweather to fight him, and criticized “Money” for fighting Berto, who many correctly predicted was an easy opponent for his supposed final fight.
Many have questioned whether Mayweather would stay retired given that his 49-0 mark is equal to that of Rocky Marciano, and going for 50-0 seemed like a natural step for the cocky Mayweather to take. Even with his 39th birthday coming up next week, Mayweather is still considered the top pound-for-pound boxer in the world, which he proved by dismantling Manny Pacquiao last May.
“Do you want to see them or do you want to see us? I’m just saying, I’m just putting it out there. Those are the type of things that I can do,” Mayweather said.