Floyd Mayweather began his professional boxing career by stopping 25 of his first 35 opponents, but the latter half of the pound-for-pound great's career was marred by decisions and uneventful, albeit successful, point fighting.
While many lambasted Mayweather for the tactic, the former WBC, WBA, and WBO champion revealed recently that it's not that he didn't want to knock guys out -- he simply couldn't and had to adjust.
"Early on I was a huge power puncher, a knockout artist, but you have to learn to make adjustments." Mayweather said while interacting with fans at an event in England, according Carlos Boogs of Boxing Scene. "As I got older, my body started to break down. Over half my fights my body was not 100 percent. I was using my B-game to beat a guy like [Berto]."
Mayweather took his 49th and final bout on September 2015 against Andre Berto to wrap up an illustrious, as well as lucrative, undefeated career. Mayweather's volume and pace were as good as ever in his last handful of fights, but he lacked the power to put away opponents.
And that might have contributed to Mayweather's decision to walk away from the sport just one win from breaking Rocky Marciano's record for consecutive wins -- a record "Money" is not interested in returning to break.
"I didn't go into the sport really focusing on breaking records," Mayweather said. "Rocky Marciano, what he did, he is a legendary champion and a great person. But I don't want boxing to retire me. I wanted to retire from the sport with all of my faculties."
According to Forbes, Mayweather walks away from the sport having earned more than $700 million. So it appears he leaves with much more than his faculties in check.
