Retired superstar Floyd Mayweather Junior is currently in the UK, embarking on a special (and very expensive to attend) “Victory Tour” where the man known as “Money” will meet and greet his UK fans. And, whilst here, the soon-to-be 39-year-old great spoke with BBC Sport.
Mayweather began by revealing how he has been offered “crazy numbers – nine figures” to fight again. Floyd said the offers have been coming in from a number of different countries around the world. But as of right now, Mayweather is “completely out” of boxing and has no plans to box again.
Mayweather addressed rumours that a rematch with Manny Pacquiao could happen and stated how these rumours are “totally false.”
“Everything that you guys are hearing that Michael Koncz has said, and what Bob Arum has said, is totally false,” Floyd said. “I haven’t spoken to Bob Arum, I haven’t spoken to Michael Koncz.”
As fans know, Mayweather won a wide UD over Pac-Man when the two finally met in “The Fight of The Century” in May of last year. Floyd’s fans say he cemented his legacy with the commanding win, while his detractors say the fight was years too late in the making, was dull and that Mayweather’s win proved far less than it would have done had it taken place in 2009 or 2010.
Still, Mayweather is in no way backtracking on his claim to be “T.B.E,” The Best Ever.
“I like to say [I’m] the best ever,” Floyd said. “It’s not being cocky or arrogant. The proof is in the pudding. I’ve earned the right to call myself T.B.E. I’ve lived up to the name, T.B.E, going out there day in and day out, when I was active, and winning – every one that was put in front of me.”
There is no doubt Mayweather has a hugely impressive list of numbers to his name: his 49-0 record, the number of belts and world titles he has won and of course the enormous financial fortune he calls his own. But whether or not that is enough to make him The Best Ever in the eyes of the millions of fight fans around the world, along with the many respected boxing historians, is another matter.
Is Floyd deserving of being ranked above the likes of Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson, Henry Armstrong, Roberto Duran and so many others? Most fans of today seem to give a resounding no to such a question.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQafk_cSTm0