Ever since the retirement of Floyd Mayweather Jr., boxing pundits have been speculating the possible return of the former pound-for-pound boxing superstar. In an interview this past Saturday on the broadcast of super-middleweight champion and Mayweather Promotions fighter Badou Jack, Mayweather gave probably the closest thing to announcing a return to the ring.
“Everyone is asking me, ‘Is Floyd Mayweather coming back?‘” Mayweather said. “Right now, I’m happy being on this side, but I’ve been talking with CBS and Showtime, and you just never know. But right now, I’m just happy on this side.”
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Fans and analysts are of course reading a lot into the mention of talks with broadcasters and the “you just never know” portion of the interview. Admittedly, there does appear to be a gradual progression towards confirming a comeback each time he is asked the question. When pressed further about the issue, Mayweather mentioned being thrown “crazy numbers” for a return fight, upwards of 9-figures, according to him.
Perhaps more telling is the report that Mayweather Productions has filed trademarks for “TMT 50” and “TBE 50” with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Analysts predict the patents will be used as promotional branding for sports gear, and the choice of letters and number would align accordingly to a Mayweather return. “TMT” is of course an acronym for “The Money Team”, and “TBE” references Mayweather’s self-anointed label of “The Best Ever”. Should Mayweather return to the ring once more, he’d be making an attempt at a 50th victory.
During the interview, Showtime commentator Jim Gray touched on possible opponents in a potential Mayweather return, which included names like Danny Garcia, Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter and of course, Gennady Golovkin. GGG was turned down due to the disparity in weight, and both Shawn Porter and Keith Thurman were quickly swatted away without any real explanation. WBC welterweight champ Danny Garcia, on the other hand, was a different matter.
“Danny Garcia, another name, undefeated champion in two different weight classes. You just never know,” Mayweather said.
While that statement alone isn’t much to go off on, when paired with another comment Mayweather made back in February of this year, it brings a bit more significance.
“It would be good for me to come back for number 50 and fight the undefeated Danny Garcia, you know, at the MGM Grand,” Mayweather said in an interview with Fighthype. “Because if I’m not mistaken, I fought Canelo, right, and then Danny Garcia fought Amir Khan, and we’re both undefeated, so who do you want to see? Do you want to see them or do you want to see us? I’m just saying, I’m just putting it out there, those are the type of things that I can do.”
So with all the cards laid out and the pieces put together, a Mayweather return seems likely, and at this point in time, the frontrunner for the task appears to be Danny Garcia. Stay tuned.
