Floyd Mayweather picked a guy who has lost 3 of his last 6 fights as his final opponent, and the boxing world hates it
Mike Stobe/Getty Images
Berto, 31, has lost three of his last six fights. While he's a former welterweight champion, he was far below guys like Keith Thurman, Timothy Bradley, Gennady Golovkin, and even Amir Khan on the list of deserving opponents who could have potentially given the undefeated mayweather a fight.
Berto is seen as such an walkover that there were rumors that the fight would be broadcast for free on CBS. That won't be the case. Showtime will sell the fight on pay-per-view - the last of a six-fight deal with Mayweather.
The boxing world sees Mayweather fighting Berto as, more or less, a total joke.
"Andre Berto has done exactly zero to earn a championship fight, let alone a crack at the man who is boxing's biggest star in what will purportedly be his final fight," Yahoo's Kevin Iole wrote, calling the fight "offensive to the hardcore boxing fans."
Other journalists were with him:
Like many, I see Mayweather-Berto as a massive disappointment. So many better, more qualified options were out there.
- Chris Mannix (@ChrisMannixSI) August 4, 2015
Utterly meaningless showcase. https://t.co/pqo5SO0z3g
- Luke Thomas (@SBNLukeThomas) August 4, 2015
Very disappointing fight. Berto doesn't have the skills to compete with Floyd and will likely lose every second of every round.
- Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) August 4, 2015
No one is criticizing Berto, they're criticizing Floyd for picking a lesser opponent that he knows he can beat in what he claims will be his last fight ever. Mayweather has said all along that he will retire after his final Showtime fight at 49-0. While many are theorizing that he'll go for 50-0 in the spring against a legitimate opponent for one final big payday, as of now this is expected to be Floyd's final fight.
Other fighters and ex-fighters think Mayweather-Berto is a huge disappointment as well.
"Oh my god. I don't even want to break that fight down. I'm not even going to talk about that fight. It's not, that's, that's not a fight. I don't know if it's going to be worse than the Manny Pacquiao and Mayweather fight, I'm not sure. But, I'm not talking about it."
Victor Ortiz said the same thing:
"That's embarrassing, bro. That's not even a fight. If anything dude, they both need to retire, or at least Floyd needs to give me some kind of a chance to redeem myself. I have no respect for that, I have no respectful reply for that. I don't know. If we keep going I'll say a lot of bad things."
Mayweather has put himself in a position where he controls the money and can handpick his opponents. But with this move he's hurting whatever goodwill he has left among the fans.
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