Mayweather backtracks over retirement talk

May 7 2007 By The Journal

Floyd Mayweather officially retired from boxing after his split decision win over Oscar De La Hoya at the MGM Grand on Saturday night, then revealed what everyone expected - a return between the `Pretty Boy' and the `Golden Boy' could be on the cards.

Mayweather, the 30-year-old pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, beat De La Hoya to take the WBC light-middleweight title, the fifth division in which he has held a world championship belt.

After victory he was talking of a life outside boxing - until the post-fight interviews.

"I came in on top and I'm leaving on top," said Mayweather. "Right now, Floyd Mayweather is officially retired from the sport of boxing."

However, when asked if he would be interested in a rematch with De La Hoya, Mayweather's competitive juices started to flow.

Having banked around 10 million dollars before rich pickings from the pay-per-view market, and with the prospect of a rematch being talked about, Mayweather said: "I will have to go home and talk to my team."

But he added: "I plan on retiring but if the fans want a rematch then who knows what the future will be."

However, as if to remember the promise to quit the ring he had made all through the build-up to the fight, he said: "You can't stop God's work. What was meant to be was meant to be. I gave everyone an exciting fight and that is something I wanted to do before I retired."

From the way 34-year-old De Lay Hoya was talking he, too, could be thinking of another mega-bucks meeting after collecting around 25 million dollars before his pay-per-view cut.

"After a fight, you either feel like you win or lose," said 34-year-old De La Hoya. "But I don't feel like I lost. I'm satisfied with my effort. People come to watch a fight and it was billed as `The World Awaits'. I pressed the action and landed the stronger punches while he was backpedalling."

But, gracious as ever, De la Hoya paid tribute to the victor.

"You can't say anything bad about him. He's a talented fighter. He's the champion and you have to respect that." That leaves one burning question: Will either man be able to resist the lure of a rematch? If Mayweather does stay retired, he will leave as one of its legends. His perfect 38-0 record was underscored by a defining victory as the `Pretty Boy' used his mesmerising speed to fend off a flurry of punches from the aggressive De La Hoya.

Michigan native Mayweather landed 207 of the 481 punches he threw, according to CompuBox. De La Hoya threw 587 punches but landed only 122 or 21%.

"I can't win every round," Mayweather joked.