Floyd out of boxing for good?

source: By Abac Cordero (The Philippine Star) 

MANILA, Philippines - It’s been nine months now since Floyd Mayweather Jr. was last seen inside the ring.

It sounds like he won’t be back very soon. Or even never, perhaps.

Zab Judah, the light-welterweight champion, told On the Ropes Radio the other day that he had a chat with Mayweather, and got the impression that the troubled American is out of boxing.

For good.
“I had seen Floyd yesterday and asked, ‘Are you going to get back in there?’ Mayweather told me he’s finished,” Judah said during the radio interview.


“He said he was just going to chill. He’s thinking about taking a two-year break and I mean listen – The man worked hard for a long time.”

But a two-year break for a 33-year-old boxer could mean the end because it’s at this age where his skills, his strength, his speed, but not necessarily his drive, begin to deteriorate.

Mayweather, undefeated, cannot afford a two-year break, and return to the sport when he’s 35 because by that time, there could be no one else to fight.

Manny Pacquiao, the Filipino super-champion, could be done in two years, meaning the super-fight between him and Mayweather may no longer take place.

Besides, Pacquiao is not desperate for a fight with Mayweather, one that could fetch them $50 million each, adding that he earned all his fame and fortune without the latter’s help.

While Pacquiao is winning world titles here and there, he now has eight in as many weight divisions, Mayweather is getting into trouble here and there.

Mayweather is facing numerous court cases, trapped in his corner, and it could be the main reason why he wants out of the sport. Or it could be he’s just avoiding Pacquiao, for one reason or another.

Mayweather said he will fight Pacquiao only if the 32-year-old fighting congressman would agree to random blood testing. Some say, however, he’s scared of Pacquiao, and losing that “zero” in his record.

The evidence hearing for Mayweather’s felony domestic violence case, against his ex-girlfriend, was reset from last Monday to March 10, and once it gets going, it will surely take some time.

Mayweather appeared briefly in the Las Vegas court, and said nothing, according to an Associated Press report, as he was accompanied by his manager, Leonard Ellerbe, and fiancee, Shantel Jackson.

Mayweather, who also got into recent trouble with an old nemesis, and a couple of security guards in the subdivision where he lives, faces 34 years in state prison if convicted of felony grand larceny, coercion and robbery.

Pacquiao, meanwhile, is busy attending to his duties as a congressman, and all set to launch his press tour for his May 7 bout with Shane Mosley. There will be stops in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York and Washington.

Along the way, he gets the chance to meet the President, Barack Obama.

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