The younger Mayweather has said his 49th fight will be his last, a welterweight title defense at MGM Grand.
“I’m gonna be honest, I’m just saying I’m not feeling that right now,” the father and trainer of the pound-for-pound king said during fightweek. “I’m just saying that because most fighters, that’s what they always say, they ain’t gonna fight. Then, you look up, another six months, year, two years, three years, they’re ready to fight again.”
Mayweather Sr. knows. He did it, taking off five years before a one-fight comeback in 1990, in the family’s native Grand Rapids, when he lost a decision to Roger Turner, who later went on to lose a welterweight title challenge against Felix Trinidad.
Mayweather Sr. had been shot in the leg in 1979 and fought on five more years, but the one-off fight five years after leaving the ring, “just wasn’t the right thing to do, for me, at that time, it’s just something that fighters do,” he said.
The trainer seems to prefer that his son retire.
“Look, I hope that he’s done when he says he’s done, because there ain’t no reason to do nothing else. You’ve got everything that you need,” he said.
After their mercurial history has ended in a patched-up relationship late in their boxing careers, Mayweather Sr. made clear that “whatever he decides to do, it’s him.”
“The only thing I can do is make a suggestion. That’s all I can do,” he said.
The 48-0 Mayweather is a 38-year-old pound-for-pound king with a perfect record, which is unprecedented.
He could tie Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 record for the most wins by a retired champion with a perfect record with a victory Saturday.
Many think that temptation, and possibly the opening of a new Las Vegas arena next spring, could thwart retirement plans.
Mayweather Sr. said surpassing Marciano isn’t sufficient motivation to fight again, but that if his son should decide otherwise, the most important thing is to set the fight without a long break.
“You can’t stick, stay, and lay, and go away, and think you’re going to come back and do something another day. You can not do that,” he said. “There ain’t no more year, or two, or three. There ain’t no more of that stuff.”
The younger Mayweather swatted away his father’s remarks when told of them.
“I’m not really focused on that right now,” he said. “I’m just focused on fighting Saturday. My dad, he sees things his way, I see things my way.”
As for Berto, Mayweather Sr. expressed little concern and said his son’s training has not waned.
“My son will do what he always does,” he said.
Courtesy of David Mayo of mlive.com. Follow David on Twitter @David_Mayo