Floyd Mayweather Jr, who returns to the ring this week after nearly two years in retirement, credits a trip to the Bahamas with his mother for sparking his hotly anticipated comeback.
The undefeated American, a former world champion at five different weights, will take on Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in a non-title welterweight bout on Saturday, his first fight since beating Britain’s Ricky Hatton in December 2007.
Shortly after his 10th-round stoppage of Hatton in Las Vegas, Mayweather announced he would not fight again because he had lost his desire for the sport.
“I was going to the gym, playing basketball and partying a little,” Mayweather told reporters on Tuesday about his various activities since retiring. “I traveled a lot.”
It was on one of those trips, Mayweather said, that his mother, Deborah, turned to him and said: “Everyone on the whole island keeps asking when you’re going to fight again.”
Having mulled over those words, Mayweather returned to his home town of Las Vegas, where he went to the boxing gym and sparred eight rounds. After sounding out several close friends, he decided to make his official return to the ring.
“After I had time to rest and enjoy life with my family and friends, I started to miss the competition and my fans,” Mayweather, 39-0 (25 KOs), recalled.
He will make his comeback in the same MGM Grand ring where he beat Hatton, this time against a multiple former world champion who has moved up two weight classes for the fight.
When Mayweather beat Hatton, he was widely regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, but that mythical crown has since passed to Manny Pacquiao, largely because of the Filipino’s wins over Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya.
Mayweather, however, believes his own victory over Hatton was of a higher quality.
“People seem to forget, I fought Ricky Hatton when he was undefeated and I laid down the blueprint for how to beat him,” the 32-year-old Mayweather said. “And again, when you look at the tape of when Hatton fought Manny Pacquiao, when Pacquiao hit him he wasn’t even looking when he threw the punch. He threw a Hail Mary punch.”
“I’m not saying Pacquiao’s not a good fighter,” Mayweather added. “I’m not saying that I’m the only star in boxing. There are other stars in boxing. But there’s only one mega-superstar.”
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
LONG TIME COMING: With the addition of Marcus Smart, the Washington Wizards finally held a team to under 100 points, the last team this season to do so The Detroit Pistons on Monday won their seventh straight game in the NBA with in-form Cade Cunningham making 32 points and grabbing nine rebounds in a 106-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Pistons, who are in the playoff position, moved to 32-26, their best record at this stage of a season for 17 years. It was an all-round effort from Detroit with Tobias Harris adding 20 points and Jalen Duren making 19 rebounds along with his 12 points. It was a tight contest until Detroit pulled away late in the third quarter to tie their longest winning streak since the 2014-2015
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