Mayweather’s announces his final fight
Floyd Mayweather Jr says he will fight for the last time in September next year.
Mayweather told guests at a gala dinner in South Africa on Friday that he remembers his first fight when he was a kid in 1987, and that “September 2015 will be my last”.
The unbeaten five-division world champion, considered by many the best boxer of his era, said after beating Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in a dominating display last September that he had four fights and two years left in his career.
Mayweather’s next bout will be in May against an undecided opponent, having said this week that British fighter Amir Khan and Argentine Marcos Maidana are the leading contenders.
Mayweather has a 45-0 record with 26 knockouts after making his pro debut in 1996.
Former world light middleweight champion Alvarez will make his return to the ring on a March 8 card with three world title bouts, promoters said on Friday.
Alvarez, a 23-year-old whose nickname is Spanish for Cinnamon, will face compatriot Alfredo Angulo, 22-3 with 18 knockouts.
Also on the card will be Mexico’s unbeaten Leo Santa Cruz, 27-0 with one draw and 15 knockouts, defending the WBC super bantamweight title against Mexican southpaw and former world champion Cristian Mijares, 49-7 with two drawn and 24 knockouts.
Mexico’s Carlos Molina, 22-5 with two drawn and six knockouts, makes the first defence of his International Boxing Federation junior middleweight title against unbeaten American Jermall Charlo, 17-0 with 13 knockouts.
Alvarez’s brother Ricardo, 23-2 with three drawn and 14 knockouts, gets into the act when he challenges unbeaten Omar Figueroa, 24-0 with one draw and 17 knockouts, for the WBC interim lightweight crown.
American Adrien Broner won the WBC lightweight title last February but has fought his past two bouts at welterweight and invoked a rematch clause to avenge his first career loss for another fight against Argentina’s Marcos Maidana, which means the interim champion is likely to take over the full title.