Floyd Mayweather Jr. talks future
Updated: September 9, 2014, 11:04 PM ET
By Dan Rafael | ESPN.com
LAS VEGAS -- Pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. sees the light at the end of the boxing tunnel -- retirement a year from now.
Mayweather said on Tuesday that he plans to retire at the conclusion of his six-fight Showtime/CBS contract, which likely will be next September.
He is halfway through the deal worth more than $200 million. He will have the fourth bout of the contract on Saturday (Showtime PPV, 8 ET) at the MGM Grand when he defends his welterweight world championship against former titleholder Marcos Maidana (35-4, 31 KOs) in a rematch of Mayweather's action-packed majority decision victory on May 3.
"I only got two more fights left (after Saturday) and after the next two fights I just want to build the Mayweather Promotions brand," Mayweather said of his promotional company during a roundtable with a handful of reporters on Tuesday at the MGM Grand after making his grand arrival for fight week.
Mayweather typically fights in May and September and said that is what he plans to do in 2015 as he closes out his deal and, apparently, his career.
"Absolutely," Mayweather said of his plans to adhere to that schedule next year. "My next fight is in May and my last fight is in September, so a year from now will be my last fight.
"As of right now, my focus is on Maidana. I can't focus on the other two fights after that. I have to focus on Maidana. After that we can't say who's the next two are going to be but I'm pretty sure the next two will be exciting fights."
The 37-year-old Mayweather (46-0, 26 KOs) said he plans to remain involved in boxing as a promoter.
"I'll still work with my stable of fighters, still build the Mayweather Promotions brand," he said. "We have young fighters that we work with."
Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather's close friend and the chief executive of Mayweather Promotions, was sitting next to Mayweather as he spoke about retirement.
"I'm happy. He deserves it. He's put in the work his whole career. Grinding, done everything the fans have asked of him," Ellerbe said. "He's had a remarkable career. It's time to hang 'em up. Made all the money you can make. What else is there to do in the sport? There's nothing else to prove."
The one opponent Mayweather has not faced is fellow welterweight titleholder Manny Pacquiao. That's the match the sports world has been calling out to see for years, but it has not happened for various reasons.
However, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, who represents Pacquiao, said late last month during the media tour promoting Pacquiao's Nov. 22 HBO PPV fight against junior welterweight titlist Chris Algieri in Macau, China, that there have been talks between Showtime, for whom Mayweather fights exclusively, and HBO, which has Pacquiao under contract, about making a deal.
There is precedent for that because the networks made a historic deal to jointly put on the 2002 fight between then-heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, who was signed to HBO, and Mike Tyson, who was under contract to Showtime.
The issues in making Mayweather-Pacquiao happen have not been television-related, as both are relatively new to their exclusive deals. Other issues have held back an agreement for the fight, such as how to split the money and Mayweather's insistence that Arum not be involved, among other things.
If the fighters and their teams could work out their differences, the television networks would likely figure something out.
Mayweather, however, said there is no truth to what Arum has been saying about any kind of deal.
"Not true," Mayweather said. "I can't say what the future holds, but Arum and Pacquiao is trying to sell tickets for the (fight with the) guy named (Chris) Algieri. Trying to sell tickets for that fight. I don't know where they fighting, I don't know anything about what Top Rank is doing."
