Floyd Mayweather hints at retirement following Logan Paul exhibition bout

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By Tom Ward

Published Jun 8, 2021

Mayweather fought to a draw with Paul in their, leaving him to consider his future in the sport

Floyd Mayweather has hinted he could retire from boxing for a fourth time following his exhibition bout against Logan Paul in Miami on Sunday.

The former five-weight world champion said it was time to think about the future after he went the full distance with the YouTube star.

And it looks like he could be close to calling it quits, closing the door on a career that includes fifteen major world titles in five weight classes.

When asked if he'd be interested in fighting again, Mayweather, named Fighter of the Decade for the 2010s by the Boxing Writers Association of America, said: "Oh absolutely not; I retired from the sport of boxing. I’ve said this before: It’s not easy, even for this fight.

"Just train a day and then take a couple of days off, train a day then take a couple of days off because of the age, because of the wear and tear of early on in my career.

"No punches to the head or anything, but just boxing and just sports period is really hard on the body, athletes, period.

"As far as me coming back to the sport of boxing [professionally], absolutely not. As far as me doing an exhibition again, probably not.”

Despite many predicting that Paul would struggle against the all-time boxing great, the 26-year-old was able to cling on for dear life and survive until the final bell, which was met with howls of derision from hardcore boxing fans.

However, Mayweather insists he is satisfied with how he performed against the bigger and heavier Paul, who had a 0-1 record going into the fight.

The 44-year-old American, who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2021, made no attempt to hide the fact that age is catching up with him.

“Of course at my age I’m not going to perform like when I was 19,” he added. “I’m not supposed to.

"Is my hair going to be all black forever? Of course not, it’s going to turn all grey. I understand that; it’s a part of life.

"Am I going to be able to always fight like when I fought Diego Corrales or Arturo Gatti? Absolutely not, but I understand that.”