Message to Floyd Mayweather JR: STAY AWAY from Boxing

By Gina L. Caliboso:.........Recently, one of my favorite Lakers (former) – Shaquille O’Neal, announced his retirement from basketball. And I got to thinking about how much O’Neal means to me. As a Lakers fan, of course, I remember those championship years. And, just to remain consistent, RSR fans, I’m still not watching the NBA finals between Dallas and Miami. Nonetheless, O’Neal, after he left the Lakers, remained in basketball. Until finally, his body just couldn’t take it anymore. A couple of Saturdays ago, we all saw how Bernard “Executioner” Hopkins beat a younger Jean Pascal and schooled him on the fine, but not always pretty, art and science of boxing.
So, as I mentioned before, what does retirement mean for a boxer? Hopkins stated he wishes to continue boxing until he is 50. For any athlete, retirement, or the consideration to retire, is always a tough one. There is always something missing from the sport the athlete helped evolve or change into a better one once that particularly excellent athlete decides to retire. As my colleague Kevin Nelson addressed the obvious concerns in boxing should, gulp, Pacquiao retire, I decided to take a look at the boxers that should definitely consider retiring and working as ambassadors for the sport. Hopkins is at the forefront for retirement, but I’ll look at that in 4 years. I’ll start with the welterweights.
For starters, just to put himself and sports fans out of misery, Floyd “Money” Mayweather, JR., needs to retire or simply disappear. But I don’t think his ego or 50 Cent will allow that to happen just yet. Mayweather, JR., has the bout at his beckoning with the Pacquiao camp supposedly maybe willing to consider putting it to contract. In his last two bouts, Mayweather, JR., has handily defeated Mosley and Marquez. And, surprise, surprise, if memory serves, Pacquiao has beaten both Mosley and Marquez. I’ll even mention Margarito.
As Marquez is now set to fight Pacquiao in the third installment of their fight history, it should be a good one. Mayweather, JR, the call has been made, the twitter, the Facebook, and the World Wide Web, all just want to know. Will you retire or fight Pacquiao? Can you answer the call please?
In the same division, there is Sugar Shane Mosley. We all saw the bout against Pacquiao. All the Showtime commentators stated that against Pacquiao, Mosley showed all the signs of an aging fighter. Mosley still remains one of my favorite fighters, but should he decide to remain in boxing, he might have to retool everything about his current boxing style and adapt. He is still strong and he can take a punch, but unless he becomes more aggressive and works inside, I’d recommend he retire. But he has to mentally decide to do so. His mind is definitely willing to continue fighting, but he has to do so with his body as well.