The time for Floyd Mayweather to hang up the gloves has come.
For many years, the former multiple-time boxing world champion challenged the truth of prizefighting being a young man’s sport. However, that all changed on Sunday night when Mayweather set foot in the ring at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Mayweather, at 44 years of age, took on novice boxer and YouTube star Logan Paul in an eight-round exhibition bout. It was a puzzling matchup that pushed the boundaries of sports entertainment like never seen before. The celebrity fight ended in a no-decision, as the bout’s rules didn’t allow judging in case both competitors saw the final bell.
It was a shocking result. Although there was a wide range of opinions on the booking, common sense only permitted one possible outcome for the contest – Mayweather would win by knockout with ease. It felt it was just a matter of when Mayweather wanted to take things seriously and stop Paul, as there was nothing the YouTuber could do to stop the unbeaten legend from working his craft.
Yet, Paul tied Mayweather in the clinch, took his best shots time after time, and even landed a few of his own. It was a big wake-up call to Mayweather, who admitted he’s not the same man he used to be following the bout.
This is dangerous territory for Mayweather if he decides to continue fighting.
His magic and the ability to look levels and worlds apart from his opponent in skill seems to have eroded to a point where a puncher’s chance might finally be applicable to his opponents, something that just simply didn’t exist in years prior.
Mayweather’s boxing matches against non-boxers in recent times were far from competitive, even as they were against high-level combat sports athletes. In 2017, Mayweather toyed with former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor before stopping him in the tenth round. And not long after in 2018, Mayweather floored Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa in the first round of their exhibition, making the 20-year-old cry in the ring in front of his home country.
Sunday’s bout against Paul was a clear indication Mayweather needs to stop fighting.
His legacy is not cemented on his heart, punching power, exciting fighting style, or any other common features that have placed fighters in the history books. Mayweather is one the few athletes to walk away from the fight game unbeaten, one of the almost non-existent figures who have reached the pinnacle of the sport and were never figured out.
A defeat, even at an exhibition level, would undoubtedly taint Mayweather’s legacy. The last thing boxing needs is to have one of the greatest runs in the history of the sport to get tarnished by a YouTuber.
As Mayweather said on Sunday night, money is just about everything as it can buy almost anything. But yet, there are certain things outside of the reach of money such as his medal in boxing at the 1996 Olympics, three U.S. Golden Gloves championships, a 50-0 professional boxing record, and 15 major world titles.
Undoubtedly, Mayweather is a master of boxing – one of the greatest to ever do it. But father time has been unbeaten for much longer and it’s unforgiving with anyone willing to roll the dice.