MANILA, Philippines – Floyd Mayweather Jr earned a tremendous amount of fortune as a professional boxer for 19 years, retiring in 2015 with a total net worth of $350 million.
The 39-year-old celebrated pugilist from Grand Rapids, Michigan has already established himself as a boxing promoter after deciding to hang up his pair of gloves for good.
However, many still urge Mayweather to make an in-ring return and break Rocky Marciano’s undefeated streak by furnishing an immaculate 50-0 record.
Mayweather shot down the hopes of making a comeback inside the squared-circle and intended to stay retired as he sees a pot of gold in a different sport.
The former boxing pound-for-pound king expressed his interest in promoting and managing fighters from mixed martial arts (MMA).
“They want me back. It's time for me to move over to MMA. I mean talking as far as, it’s time for me to start promoting fights for the MMA. I'm ready to get involved with that business now,” Mayweather said in an interview with FightHype.com.
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Mayweather has fully spread his wings as a boxing promoter since his retirement, handling boxers such as WBC super middleweight champion Badou Jack, Mickey Bey Jr, Ishe Smith and Gervonta Davis.
Although Mayweather views MMA as a good business opportunity, he seems to have a hard time keeping his name out of the sport’s landscape.
Mayweather is known to be the most vocal critic of the sport as it was well-documented when he stated in a 2011 interview with CBS Sports that MMA was created out of a longing to see Caucasians succeed in combat sports due to their recent floundering in boxing.
In addition, he mentioned during a dialogue with Showtime for his bout against Robert Guerrero in May 2013 that his opponent’s unrefined style was better suited for MMA.
Mayweather also engaged in a heated war of words with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) superstars Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey.
While his growing desire in MMA was a bit surprising on its own, Mayweather is open to doing business with UFC president Dana White, who is notably not an admirer of the boxer.
In a separate interview, Mayweather revealed that he and White used to work together back in the day.
“I can remember, I think you can go back to the beginning, to day one of my career, my first fight — my uncle Jeff Mayweather and I, that’s when Dana White used to work for us. He used to be with us. When nobody else knew who Dana White was, before when he was a little square white guy, before he cut all his hair off and became a tough guy in the MMA,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Mayweather’s rival Manny Pacquiao is likewise involved in MMA as he purchased an undisclosed amount of shares in ONE Championship in August 2014. – Rappler.com