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Floyd “Money” Mayweather Concludes Remarkable Career With Win Over Andre Berto

Published

9 years ago

September 13, 2015

FLOYD “MONEY” MAYWEATHER CONCLUDES REMARKABLE CAREER WITH WIN OVER ANDRE BERTO AND PERFECT 49-0 RECORD IN MAIN EVENT OF SHOWTIME PPV^®

FOUR-FIGHT TELECAST FROM THE MGM GRAND GARDEN ARENA IN LAS VEGAS

Photo Credit: Esther Lin/SHOWTIME

LAS VEGAS (Sept. 13, 2015) – Floyd “Money” Mayweather performed one last masterpiece on Saturday live on SHOWTIME PPV^® in what he insists was the final fight of his distinguished 19-year career.

Before 13,395 fans at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Mayweather improved to 49-0 (26 KOs), matching the record of the late heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano with a 12-round decision over former two-time welterweight world champion Andre Berto (30-4, 23 KOs). In total control from the outset, Mayweather was victorious by the scores of 120-108, 118-110 and 117-111.

Following the final bell, Mayweather dropped to his knees in reflection of his final act.

“You have to know when to hang it up,” he told SHOWTIME’s Jim Gray in the ring afterward. “I’m knocking at the door; I’m close to 40 years old.

“I’ve been in this sport 19 years, been a world champion 18 years, broke all the records. There’s nothing else to prove in the sport of boxing.

“My 49-0 record is a part of boxing. Records are made to be broken. Hopefully someday we can find the next Floyd Mayweather.

“Now it’s time to spend time with my family and children, make sure they get the proper education. I also want to help the fighters under the Mayweather Promotions banner.

“I’m leaving the sport with all my faculties; I’m still sharp and smart. I’ve accomplished everything in this sport, there’s nothing else to accomplish.

“Money doesn’t make me. I make money.

“I don’t want to rank myself, but I am the best at boxing.

“I want to thank all the fans that came out to support this event. For 19 years I wouldn’t be able to do it without these fans.

“Andre Berto has heart, a tremendous chin. He wouldn’t lay down, it was a good fight. He was a tough competitor, but experience played a major role tonight. What can I say? I was the better man tonight. It doesn’t matter if I hurt my left or my right hand, my career is over. It’s official.”

Berto was satisfied with his performance, but conceded he was not at Mayweather’s level.

“Experience played a big part in this fight,” he said. “I want to thank my entire team, my family and all of Haiti that is watching.

“I was in shape for this fight; he was just difficult to hold on to. He’s slippery. I used a lot of speed but he’s real crafty. He was using little things to get me off my rhythm.

“A guy like me has a lot of pride. I told him that every time I caught him with a good shot that I was here to stay. I put on a great performance, pushed him to the limit. But, we fell short.”

In the second of two world title fights on the pay-per-view undercard, Roman “Rocky” Martinez (29-2-3, 17 KOs) retained his WBO Junior Lightweight title with a thrilling 12-round majority draw in a rematch against four-time world champion Orlando “Siri” Salido (42-13-3, 29 KOs).

Picking up where they left off when they fought in a Fight of the Year candidate last April, won by Martinez, both fighters exchanged punches for 36 minutes of ferocious action. Each went down in the third round. At the end of a slugfest, in which more than 1,700 punches were thrown, one judge scored it for Martinez (115-113), one had Salido (115-113) in front and the other called it even (114-114).

Both Martinez and Salido thought they should have got the decision and are in favor of a third fight.

“I definitely won the fight,” said Martinez, who was making the first defense in his third stint as WBO Junior Lightweight World Champion. “They counted a knockdown that wasn’t really a knockdown.

“He threw a lot of punches but most of them didn’t connect, they landed on my arms. Anywhere you want that third fight between us, I will take it.”

Said Salido, a two-time featherweight world champion who was the aggressor throughout and delivered more than 1,000 punches, “I did all the work and I thought I won the fight. I thought the first couple of rounds were even but then I took control of the fight afterwards.

“I was definitely looking for the championship. As you all saw I threw more of the punches and I thought I won the fight.

“I dedicated so much for this fight, for them to take it away from me is not fair. Definitely, I am ready for a third fight.”

In another world title fight, Badou Jack “The Ripper” (20-1-1, 12 KOs) successfully defended his WBC Super Middleweight World title with a hard-fought, crowd-pleasing 12-round majority decision over mandatory challenger “Saint” George Groves (21-3, 16 KOs). Jack, who dropped Groves late in the first round, triumphed by the scores of 116-111, 115-112 and 113-114. The hard-luck Groves, who abruptly fled the ring in disbelief after the announcement, fell to 0-3 in world title fights.

Jack was impressive in what may have been his toughest fight to date.

“Groves has a lot of heart,” said Jack, who was making the initial defense of the WBC belt he took from Anthony Dirrell in April.

“Body work is becoming my signature. I wasn’t effective enough because I couldn’t knock him out. I felt like after the first round I could but I just couldn’t. I didn’t go to the body enough.

“I haven’t thought about my next fight yet, but there’s a lot of big fights for me. I heard Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. wants to fight me. I want to enjoy this win but I will fight anyone.”

The victory was Jack’s fourth in a row since suffering the lone loss of his career on a shocking first-round knockout loss to Derek Edwards in February 2014.

Groves, whose only other losses were in back-to-back fights against then-world champion Carl Froch, didn’t dispute the knockdown but had a problem with the decision.

“I thought I won the fight decisively,” he said. “I thought I controlled the fight with my jab and that I was in control throughout, though, it appeared closer to the judges.

“It was a legit knockdown in the first round. He landed the right hand over the top, but I have good fitness and I thought I got back in control of that round. But all credit to him though scoring the knockdown in the first round.

“Congrats to Badou. I hope he has a successful reign as champion. I’d love to fight him again and hopefully I will do better next time. I am going to take some time to work out what’s next. Losing a world title fight is the worst feeling in the world.”

Puerto Rico’s Jonathan “Polvo” Oquendo (26-4, 16 KOs) overcame a first-round knockdown, scored a knockdown of his own and upset former two-division world champion Jhonny Gonzalez (58-10, 49 KOs). Oquendo won a 10-round majority decision in a good action fight that opened the pay-per-view telecast. Oquendo won the biggest bout of his career by the scores of 95-93, an out-of-line 98-90 and 94-94.

For Oquendo, the victory in his sixth appearance at MGM Grand Garden Arena was the 12^thin his last 14 fights.

“I feel very happy,” said Oquendo, who was dropped by a left hook with about one minute left in the first. “Jhonny Gonzalez is a great champion. I knew I had to throw a lot of punches and work to get inside to get the victory. I was able to implement that game plan tonight.”

Gonzalez, a former two-time WBC featherweight and WBO Bantamweight World Champion, was displeased with the scoring as well as all the unintentional headbutts. He was dropped by a straight right hand at about the 2:00 mark of the second.

“The judges favored him too much,” Gonzalez said. “He kept head butting me. It just didn’t go well. As soon as he knocked me down, nothing happened. I just got right back up.”

In a fight Saturday that aired during “COUNTDOWN LIVE” on SHOWTIME before the pay-per-view telecast, longtime junior middleweight contender Vanes Martirosyan (36-2-1, 21 KOs), of Glendale, Calif., scored two knockdowns en route to winning a 10-round majority decision over former IBF 154-pound champion Ishe Smith (27-8, 12 KOs) of Las Vegas, by the scores of 97-91 twice and 95-95.

“I feel awesome. I worked hard and it paid off. I hadn’t seen my family in 10 weeks. I was in training in the Bay Area,” Martirosyan said. “Ishe was eating 100 jabs a round. I knew he was a Mayweather fighter and I was going into the fight already down five rounds.

“I knew I had to win. My corner told me to go in and have fun, but I wanted to knock him out.

“I knew as soon as I landed the first knockdown that I had to keep going. I didn’t think he would get up from the second knockdown. He had never been dropped before. He has fought a lot of great fighters and I dropped him twice.”

Smith, the first native Las Vegan to capture a world title, felt the fight was much tighter.

“The first knockdown wasn’t serious. He just caught me in the back of the head. The second one was legit, but I got up ready to come back at him,” Smith said.

“Six points is ridiculous. I thought it was closer to 95-95 or 95-94. I just thought it was a lot closer than those two judges, and my corner kept telling it was real close. But we expected a tough fight out of (Martirosyan). He’s long, rangy and a good puncher, but that’s why I wanted to get inside and fight him there.

“I just fought a hell of a fight against the No. 3-ranked fighter in our division. I have a lot left. I’m pushing these guys to the limit. I take nothing away from him. He’s one of the best in the world and I’m a former world champion. We gave the fans a great fight tonight and I’ll be back again soon.”

Also on “COUNTDOWN LIVE,” promising unbeaten lightweight Gervonta Davis of Baltimore improved to 12-0 with 11 knockouts by registering a 1:34, first-round TKO over Recky Dulay (8-2, 5 KOs), of Manila, Philippines.

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The Sweet Science

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

8 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Articles

Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

8 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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Articles

2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

8 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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