Mayweather retirement in doubt

Floyd Mayweather officially retired from boxing after his split decision win over Oscar De La Hoya at the MGM Grand on Saturday night, then revealed what everyone expected - a return between the 'Pretty Boy' and the 'Golden Boy' could be on the cards.

Mayweather, the 30-year-old pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, beat De La Hoya to take the WBC light-middleweight title, the fifth division in which he has held a world championship belt.

Immediately after victory he was talking of a life outside boxing - until the post-fight interviews.

"I came in on top and I'm leaving on top," said Mayweather. "Right now, Floyd Mayweather is officially retired from the sport of boxing."

However, when asked if he would be interested in a rematch with De La Hoya, Mayweather's competitive juices started to flow.

Having banked around 10 million dollars before rich pickings from the pay-per-view market, and with the prospect of a rematch already being talked about here, Mayweather said: "I will have to go home and talk to my team."

Then came the more significant response. "I plan on retiring but if the fans want a rematch then who knows what the future will be."

However, as if to remember the promise to quit the ring he had made all through the build-up to the super-fight, he quickly added: "You can't stop God's work.

What was meant to be was meant to be. I gave everyone an exciting fight and that is something I wanted to do before I retired."

From the way 34-year-old De Lay Hoya was talking he, too, could be thinking of another mega-bucks meeting after collecting around 25 million dollars before his pay-per-view cut.

"After a fight, you either feel like you win or lose," said 34-year-old De La Hoya. "But I don't feel like I lost. I'm very satisfied with my effort.

"People come to watch a fight and it was billed as 'The World Awaits'.

I pressed the action and landed the stronger punches while he was backpedalling and you can clearly see it."

But, gracious as ever, De la Hoya paid tribute to the victor.

"You can't say anything bad about him.

He's a talented fighter. He's the champion and you have to respect that."

That leaves one burning question here - will either man be able to resist the lure of a rematch?

If Mayweather does stay retired - a rarity in ring history - he will leave as one of its legends.

His perfect 38-0 record was underscored by a defining victory as the 'Pretty Boy' used his mesmerising speed to fend off a flurry of punches from the aggressive De La Hoya.

Michigan native Mayweather landed 207 of the 481 punches he threw, according to CompuBox. De La Hoya threw 587 punches but landed only 122 - or 21%.

Chuck Giampa saw the fight, 116-112, for Mayweather, while Jerry Roth also scored it for Mayweather at 115-113. Tom Kaczmarek ruled for De La Hoya, 115-113.

"I'm not Superman.

I can't win every round," Mayweather joked. "There were a couple of rounds I took off so he could burn himself."

Mayweather won the fight with his defence, never letting De La Hoya make solid contact, although he felt his all-round armour was the clincher.

"I am not the judge but offence wins fights and defence wins fights. All his shots were on my arms and shoulders. He has bruises, I am unmarked. I am a great champion and he is a great champion.

"I worked well with my jab, with my right hook and my left hook. I took time and stuck to my gameplan."

De La Hoya could not give a definitive answer when asked if this was his last hurrah. But money talks in this business.

So stand by for 'Pretty Boy' v 'Golden Boy' the return.

The world awaits.....

http://www.itv-boxing.com/News/Story...111375,00.html

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Let there be a rematch. Mayweather needs to embarass ODH even more and with a tad bit more pain to make him admit the obvious truth that" Mayweather is better than him".

In addition, let Oscar have Emmanuel Steward, Floyd Sr and Freddie Roach in his corner. Let there be no excuses this time.

I said after Oscar won the 7th round, and when he made it 4-3 either way that the rematch was going to happen as neither fighter is going to win by more then 2 rounds. Awesome fight, would not be disappointed in the least to see a rematch even though, well it wouldn't be as exciting but at least we have proof that Oscar can beat Floyd. He made it damn close, the closest fight Floyd has had since he fought Castillo.

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I can see this happening and think Mayweather snr would jump at the chance to train Oscar again

The fight wasn't close. No need for a rematch. Just another chance for Floyd to get robbed like that jackass Tom Kaczmarek tried to do him this time.

Oscar fading in the final 3 cost him the fight at the end of the day and his jab dissapeared too early.

Round 10 and 11 was the time to strike for Oscar, he absolutely needed those rounds and just didn't muster up enough to take them.

He needed to win all three of them or get a KO to win by that point anyway on my card. I had it Mayweather 87-84 going into the tenth.

So who wants the rematch then?

Mosely or Wright are both MUCH better for Floyd's resume than a rematch against Oscar.

It was a good fight, but I have pretty much zero interest in seeing a rematch. I think it would probably turn out like the 2nd Mayweather-Castillo fight, with Floyd making the better, necessary adjustments.
I want to see Floyd fight SSM or Hatton.

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I would rather see Floyd fight Mosley or even Cotto if he manages to beat Judah... But I could definetly see a rematch happening if DLH want's it and will take a signifigantly smaller portion of the purse this time round.. Mayweather isn't going to turn down a 50-50 split for a 2nd fight.... Way too much money in it.

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10 kinds of people in the world. Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

A rematch with Oscar is probably the preferred direction ($$$$$) for Floyd. But, I rather watch Floyd fighting Mosley and/or Cotto.

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I do not want to see a rematch.
Floyd needs to stay retired.
What happend to all that talk about these precious years belong to my children?

Boycott ODLH vs PBF II

The first fight was not that great. $35.000 for a front row seat? That is about $34.000 too much.

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What's the betting line on Danny's opinion changing to "this was a great fight" if, given the exact same fight in the ring, another judge had gotten this as wrong as Tom Kaszmerick and given Oscar his robbery victory? I want money on that.