Floyd Mayweather beats Andre Berto, says "I am done"
LAS VEGAS -- Love him or hate him, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a historic quantity.
The five-division world champion defended his WBA and WBC shares of the welterweight championship with a unanimous decision defeat of Andre Berto on Saturday night at the MGM Grand, then confirmed afterward what he'd promised throughout the fight's promotional run-up.
He's leaving as an unbeaten champion.
"It's official. I am done," he said. "I've accomplished everything.
"There's nothing else to accomplish in this sport."
Indeed, the win got him to 49-0 in a professional career that began 19 years ago, just months after he won a bronze medal as a teenager at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
That pro record ties the cherished boxing mark established by Rocky Marciano in 1955, when he defeated Archie Moore to get to 49-0 and never fought again.
Mayweather got the official verdict Saturday by scores of 120-108, 118-110 and 117-111, meaning the judges gave him 12, 10 and nine rounds out of a possible 12, respectively.
CBS Sports agreed with one judge and gave Mayweather nine of 12 rounds.
It was the 26th victory in a title fight for the 38-year-old Mayweather, which equals him with the championship run established by Joe Louis during his heavyweight run in the 1930s and 1940s.
He landed 232 punches - better than 50 percent of what he threw - compared to Berto's 83 punches, just 17 percent of his output. Berto was effective in intermittent spots, but never landed a shot that appeared to trouble Mayweather and had only one round that more than one judge saw him winning.
"He's slippery. He's really, really slippery," said Berto, who fell to 30-4 in a pro career that included two stints as a 147-pound champion between 2008 and 2011. "He's really crafty. He was using little things to get me off my rhythm. We pushed him to the limit, but we fell short."