Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. has maintained a high profile since defeating Andre Berto in September of 2015 in what was supposedly his farewell fight. This past Saturday, he let the cat out of the bag during an interview with veteran sportscaster Jim Gray, acknowledging that he had been in talks with CBS and Showtime about a possible return. Shortly thereafter, ESPN business reporter Darren Rovell revealed that Mayweather, 49-0, had applied for trademarks with the U.S. Patent Office for “TMT 50” and “TBE 50.” The initials stand for The Money Team and The Best Ever.
To those well versed in the history of the sweet science, there was little doubt that Mayweather’s career was unfinished. There’s an old boxing saw that says they always come back. A prominent boxer, contemplating retirement, thinks he has enough money to last the rest of his life, but a negative cash flow is a worm that will deplete his coffers. Beyond financial considerations, there are emotional factors that spur un-retirements. Adulation sustains a boxer’s vanity. When the cheers stop, the silence can be deafening.
Mayweather will inevitably win his next fight, and perhaps the fight after that, but comebacks rarely succeed. Father Time waits for no man, unless that man is George Foreman.
The final fights of some great champions were mournful occasions. In his next-to-last fight vs. Larry Holmes, Muhammad Ali was jeered. Sportswriters excoriated him for delivering such a hollow performance as if he had intentionally perpetrated a fraud on the public. Alexis Arguello was the epitome of a classy boxer. His final fight, in the ballroom of a little off-Strip casino in Las Vegas, was a sad spectacle. He lasted 10 rounds with no-name Scott Walker, but was a shell of the fighter that he had once been.
Ali’s conqueror, Larry Holmes, said that he would give the sport a few more years after upending Ken Norton in a scorching 15 round fight at Caesars Palace in 1978. A few more years turned into a few more decades. After several retirements, Holmes hung up his gloves for good in 2002.
The greatest boxer of them all, Sugar Ray Robinson, retired in 1952 after his famous fight with Joey Maxim, bidding adieu with a record of 137-3-2. In the written statement provided to the press, Robinson was adamant that he would never come back. My retirement, he said, is “complete and unequivocal.”
“Robinson’s future is set,” said a reporter, noting that he owned a beer distributorship, a cabaret, a barbershop and a lingerie shop and was embarking on a career as a nightclub entertainer. But Robinson, a big spender with a big entourage (his personal barber traveled with him, just in case he was in the mood for a haircut), was hardly set for life. After a 30-month hiatus Robinson returned to the ring and plied his trade for another 13 years. He won 42 more fights (finishing 179-19-5), but paid the price. He suffered from Alzheimer’s disease in the years preceding his death at age 67.
When it came to reneging on vows of retirement, another Sugar Ray, Sugar Ray Leonard, was the crème-de-la-crème. There were six retirements, five rescinded, according to Bernard Fernandez who followed Leonard’s career closely. After winning the gold medal at the Montreal Olympics, Leonard vouched that he had no interest in turning pro. So, in a sense, even his first pro bout was prefaced by a retirement.
The list of prominent boxers who were unable to stay retired (invariably smudging their legacy), is a very long list. There are notable exceptions – think Marciano, Hagler, Michael Spinks, and Lennox Lewis – but they are in the minority.
Tyson Fury’s reaction to the Mayweather story was to create some retirement news of his own. “I set off today for what promises to be a very hard eight weeks training,” Fury wrote on twitter, referencing his forthcoming rematch with Wladimir Klitschko. “This will be my best fight, then I’ll retire 100 %.”
Yes this tweet was newsworthy, at least from an economic standpoint. Tyson Fury, undefeated in 25 pro fights, is a star, especially in the U.K. Stories about England’s larger-than-life heavyweight champion sell newspapers and drive traffic to web sites. But the proper response to this news is a big horse laugh.
A.K.L.
To those well versed in the history of the sweet science, there was little doubt that Mayweather’s career was unfinished. There’s an old boxing saw that says they always come back. A prominent boxer, contemplating retirement, thinks he has enough money to last the rest of his life, but a negative cash flow is a worm that will deplete his coffers. Beyond financial considerations, there are emotional factors that spur un-retirements. Adulation sustains a boxer’s vanity. When the cheers stop, the silence can be deafening.
Mayweather will inevitably win his next fight, and perhaps the fight after that, but comebacks rarely succeed. Father Time waits for no man, unless that man is George Foreman.
The final fights of some great champions were mournful occasions. In his next-to-last fight vs. Larry Holmes, Muhammad Ali was jeered. Sportswriters excoriated him for delivering such a hollow performance as if he had intentionally perpetrated a fraud on the public. Alexis Arguello was the epitome of a classy boxer. His final fight, in the ballroom of a little off-Strip casino in Las Vegas, was a sad spectacle. He lasted 10 rounds with no-name Scott Walker, but was a shell of the fighter that he had once been.
Ali’s conqueror, Larry Holmes, said that he would give the sport a few more years after upending Ken Norton in a scorching 15 round fight at Caesars Palace in 1978. A few more years turned into a few more decades. After several retirements, Holmes hung up his gloves for good in 2002.
The greatest boxer of them all, Sugar Ray Robinson, retired in 1952 after his famous fight with Joey Maxim, bidding adieu with a record of 137-3-2. In the written statement provided to the press, Robinson was adamant that he would never come back. My retirement, he said, is “complete and unequivocal.”
“Robinson’s future is set,” said a reporter, noting that he owned a beer distributorship, a cabaret, a barbershop and a lingerie shop and was embarking on a career as a nightclub entertainer. But Robinson, a big spender with a big entourage (his personal barber traveled with him, just in case he was in the mood for a haircut), was hardly set for life. After a 30-month hiatus Robinson returned to the ring and plied his trade for another 13 years. He won 42 more fights (finishing 179-19-5), but paid the price. He suffered from Alzheimer’s disease in the years preceding his death at age 67.
When it came to reneging on vows of retirement, another Sugar Ray, Sugar Ray Leonard, was the crème-de-la-crème. There were six retirements, five rescinded, according to Bernard Fernandez who followed Leonard’s career closely. After winning the gold medal at the Montreal Olympics, Leonard vouched that he had no interest in turning pro. So, in a sense, even his first pro bout was prefaced by a retirement.
The list of prominent boxers who were unable to stay retired (invariably smudging their legacy), is a very long list. There are notable exceptions – think Marciano, Hagler, Michael Spinks, and Lennox Lewis – but they are in the minority.
Tyson Fury’s reaction to the Mayweather story was to create some retirement news of his own. “I set off today for what promises to be a very hard eight weeks training,” Fury wrote on twitter, referencing his forthcoming rematch with Wladimir Klitschko. “This will be my best fight, then I’ll retire 100 %.”
Yes this tweet was newsworthy, at least from an economic standpoint. Tyson Fury, undefeated in 25 pro fights, is a star, especially in the U.K. Stories about England’s larger-than-life heavyweight champion sell newspapers and drive traffic to web sites. But the proper response to this news is a big horse laugh.
A.K.L.
"That's It. I Quit. It's Over. I'm retired." The Gibberish of Boxing.
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