Floyd Mayweather

LAS VEGAS — At the end of a tough, long night, Floyd Mayweather Jr. was left staring at a June 1 jail sentence and a boxing landscape that he seems to believe cannot deliver another quality opponent. The unbeaten 35-year-old champion late Saturday said he's leaning "80-20" toward retirement. "If it was my last fight, I gave them a bang," Mayweather (43-0) said after his unanimous-decision (118-110, 117-111, 117-111) triumph over Puerto Rico's Miguel Cotto (37-3) at the MGM Grand.

LAS VEGAS — At the end of a tough, long night, Floyd Mayweather Jr. was left staring at a June 1 jail sentence and a boxing landscape that he seems to believe cannot deliver another quality opponent. The unbeaten 35-year-old champion late Saturday said he's leaning "80-20" toward retirement. "If it was my last fight, I gave them a bang," Mayweather (43-0) said after his unanimous-decision (118-110, 117-111, 117-111) triumph over Puerto Rico's Miguel Cotto (37-3) at the MGM Grand.

LAS VEGAS -- The last time Floyd Mayweather Sr. entered his son's gym, the ensuing exit exposed the toxic layer that lies just beneath the surface of their turbulent relationship. The champion boxer effectively booted his father from the gym, barking, “Get out of our way!” amid a barrage of swear words and insults to senior's skills as a boxing trainer. On Tuesday they reunited, sharing a brief embrace as unbeaten Mayweather Jr. trained with his uncle and Floyd Sr.'s brother, Roger, for his May 5 super-welterweight title fight against Miguel Cotto May 5 at MGM Grand Garden Arena.

LAS VEGAS -- At the final bell , they hugged and patted each other on the sides of the same heads they had spent an hour beating on. They were two tough fighters, not even knowing what the judges would rule, but each satisfied with an incredible effort Saturday night. This was the controversial Floyd Mayweather Jr. versus the resurgent and tough-as-nails Miguel Cotto. And when the decision was announced, the boos rang down. Mayweather had been given a surprisingly one-sided unanimous decision.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. enhanced his villainous image by the way he registered a fourth-round knockout of Victor Ortiz on Saturday night. By striking the instant he was allowed to punch after referee Joe Cortez stopped action to deduct a point from Ortiz for a head butt, Mayweather landed a left hand to Ortiz's face that stunned the welterweight champion from Ventura. With Cortez and Ortiz caught off guard, Mayweather (42-0, 26 knockouts) then finished the fight with a devastating straight right hand to Ortiz's jaw that sent the 24-year-old to la-la land.

LAS VEGAS — The two prime ribs of boxing, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, continue to create their sizzle separately. Their fight of the century, any century, seems to be going the way of the Edsel and the eight-track tape. Passage of time doesn't heal all, but it sure does dull things. It is Mayweather's time now. Boxing is nothing if not a huge attention grab, and Mayweather is in the center ring of the circus he so deeply loves. He will fight Miguel Cotto at the MGM Grand here May 5, and that correctly has the current spotlight.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. ended the dramatic pause before his signature Wednesday when he officially signed to fight Pomona's world welterweight champion Shane Mosley , Mosley's attorney told The Times. The bout between two of the sport's top pound-for-pound fighters of the past decade-plus will occur May 1 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Mosley signed to fight Friday night, and authorities close to the bout had expected Mayweather to sign no later than Monday. His delay caused some angst for the fight's promoter, Richard Schaefer , of Golden Boy Promotions, who watched Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao feud so heatedly over a pre-fight drug-testing plan that their planned March 13 bout was scrapped.

Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s long-awaited return to the ring will have to wait a bit longer after the six-time world boxing champion suffered a rib injury during practice last week, forcing the postponement of his July 18 fight with Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas. Richard Schaefer, president of Golden Boy Promotions, Mayweather's promoter, said he learned of the injury Sunday morning and won't have any information about a new date until Mayweather sees a doctor again this week.

Unbeaten boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. is being sought for questioning in Las Vegas after a domestic violence report was given by his former girlfriend early Thursday morning. The woman, Josie Harris , who Las Vegas Metropolitan Police say has children with Mayweather, summoned multiple police cars at 5:03 a.m. to a southwest Las Vegas home and reported the boxer attacked her. Domestic violence investigators were at the scene, police spokesman Bill Cassell said. The spokesman said Harris was treated at a hospital for "minor injuries" and released.

Hours after Floyd Mayweather Jr. urged Manny Pacquiao to "step up punk" and fight him May 5, the Filipino boxing star answered with his own message: Just wait a few more weeks. Pacquiao huddled with his promoter Bob Arum on Wednesday in the Philippines and agreed the best course for pursuing a long-awaited fight date against Mayweather is to schedule it for late May, or, ideally, June 9. Mayweather faces a June 1 date to report for an already delayed 90-day jail term in a domestic violence case, but Arum said he'd be "willing to chip in for lawyers' fees" to get that date moved again so a June 9 bout could occur.

LAS VEGAS — A big mistake while pondering Floyd Mayweather Jr. is to try to make sense of him. His unpredictability is his only certainty. It is well before noon Friday at the MGM Grand. This is not so much a resort and casino as it is a massive enclosed labyrinth of contrasts. Under the same roof, yet miles apart, unemployed dads lose the rent money to slot machines while Mayweather generates a throng of worshippers that symbolizes why he will increase his already hefty bank account by about $32 million.

LAS VEGAS — The antidote to Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s brash methods of remaining unbeaten might be stored away in a champion who doesn't talk very much. Miguel Cotto, Mayweather's Saturday night opponent in a World Boxing Assn. super-welterweight title fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena, has lost to only two men. The first was Antonio Margarito, who one fight later had plaster-caked inserts confiscated from inside his hand wraps. Fifteen months later, Cotto, after basically training himself, lost to Manny Pacquiao by 12th-round technical knockout.

There will be a rematch. At the end of Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s controversial, borderline-sucker-punch victory over Victor Ortiz in September, HBO boxing analyst Larry Merchant's post-fight interview with Mayweather took a personal turn. Mayweather accused Merchant of never giving him a break, and said angrily that HBO should fire the now 81-year-old, to which Merchant replied, "If I was 50 years younger, I'd kick your [rear]. " When Mayweather returns to the ring Saturday at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas against world super-welterweight champion Miguel Cotto, Merchant will help call the action, and has been assigned to post-fight interview duty even though the sport's top power broker has said he doesn't want to talk to the man. Are you surprised you got this assignment given HBO's reputation for catering to the wishes of Mayweather and his team?

LAS VEGAS — The volatility that defines Floyd Mayweather Jr. is rooted partly in the complex relationship with his father. Floyd Mayweather Sr.'s boxing lessons helped propel his son to unimaginable riches. The younger Mayweather gets another huge payday Saturday for his title bout against 154-pound champion Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. But there's tragedy in the familial connection, too, of lessons outside the ring that were left for the son to learn painfully on his own. On June 1, Mayweather Jr., 35, is scheduled to report to Clark County (Nev.)

LAS VEGAS — The two prime ribs of boxing, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, continue to create their sizzle separately. Their fight of the century, any century, seems to be going the way of the Edsel and the eight-track tape. Passage of time doesn't heal all, but it sure does dull things. It is Mayweather's time now. Boxing is nothing if not a huge attention grab, and Mayweather is in the center ring of the circus he so deeply loves. He will fight Miguel Cotto at the MGM Grand here May 5, and that correctly has the current spotlight.

LAS VEGAS -- Floyd Mayweather Jr. told The Times he is not among those who believe the long-awaited showdown against Manny Pacquiao is likely to happen in the fall. "No, I don't think it's going to happen," Mayweather said of a Pacquiao fight. "It's because of [Pacquiao promoter] Bob Arum. It's not my fault. " Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach, and even Mayweather's uncle and trainer, Roger Mayweather, have speculated recently that Mayweather and Pacquiao will fight in November, should Mayweather defeat Miguel Cotto (May 5)

LAS VEGAS — A big mistake while pondering Floyd Mayweather Jr. is to try to make sense of him. His unpredictability is his only certainty. It is well before noon Friday at the MGM Grand. This is not so much a resort and casino as it is a massive enclosed labyrinth of contrasts. Under the same roof, yet miles apart, unemployed dads lose the rent money to slot machines while Mayweather generates a throng of worshippers that symbolizes why he will increase his already hefty bank account by about $32 million.

Reporting from Las Vegas — The most modest man at the podium made the boldest statement Wednesday. Danny Garcia, a soda truck driver who also trains world welterweight champion Victor Ortiz, turned to multimillionaire Floyd Mayweather Jr. and made a simple, passionate plea that will resonate until the boxers square off at the MGM Grand on Saturday night. "Floyd, at least for this fight, fight a good clean fight for the people," Garcia said as he stared down at Mayweather, who was seated at a news conference dais.

LAS VEGAS -- The last time Floyd Mayweather Sr. entered his son's gym, the ensuing exit exposed the toxic layer that lies just beneath the surface of their turbulent relationship. The champion boxer effectively booted his father from the gym, barking, “Get out of our way!” amid a barrage of swear words and insults to senior's skills as a boxing trainer. On Tuesday they reunited, sharing a brief embrace as unbeaten Mayweather Jr. trained with his uncle and Floyd Sr.'s brother, Roger, for his May 5 super-welterweight title fight against Miguel Cotto May 5 at MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The guard at the front door of Grauman's Chinese Theatre won't let me in even though I've been invited there to promote Floyd Mayweather's next fight. Fight officials are still rehearsing inside how they are going to use the arriving media to push pay-per-view sales, so I thank the guard for doing a good job. And I leave. By that time I've already been there an hour, and while waiting outside I get to thinking how ridiculous this is. Here are hundreds of reporters, broadcasters and bloggers waiting with great anticipation to get fight talk from someone who has pleaded no contest to threatening to beat up two of his own children.