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'There are subtle signs that Mayweather is slowing down a little bit

So it's 47 wins from 47 for Floyd Mayweather. But the 37-year-old's victory in Las Vegas was not ...
Newstalk
Newstalk

20.37 15 Sep 2014


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'There are subtle sign...

'There are subtle signs that Mayweather is slowing down a little bit

Newstalk
Newstalk

20.37 15 Sep 2014


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So it's 47 wins from 47 for Floyd Mayweather. But the 37-year-old's victory in Las Vegas was not without controversy as he was seemingly bitten on his finger by opponent Marcos Maidana.

ESPN boxing correspondent Dan Rafael was ringside and tonight he told us that there is "no question" that a bite did occur.

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While he believes Mayweather's rematch win over Maidana was convincing, he is seeing signs of wear and tear.

"Whether it's age or maybe not being focused enough, you can see that there are subtle signs that he is slowing down a little bit," said Rafael of a fighter who is the only member of the US's 1996 Olympic boxing team that is still fighting at the highest level.

"But he is still extremely gifted and good enough to be considered without question the best pound for pound fighter out there." 

However, Rafael has a feeling Mayweather's fight did not do well in terms of pay-per-view numbers.

As for his public persona, Mayweather has had to apologise for comments made about the Ray Rice case.

The American football player was recently suspended indefinitely by the NFL after video footage emerged showing Rice punching his then-fiancé in an elevator.

Mayweather had initially intimated that he felt that Rice was dealt with too harshly by the NFL and that the organisation should have stuck to the original two-game ban.

"My feeling interacting with boxing fans is that boxing fans respect Mayweather for his ability," explained Rafael.

"People respect him for that. But they don't like him and a lot of people that do buy his pay per view events or buy tickets to go see his fights, they do so because they want to see him knocked on his rear end."

Rafael has spent plenty of time around Mayweather and gave an insight into why he does not see him as the "devil" that some people make him out to be, although he also acknowledged Mayweather's "egomaniac" tendencies.

His career path sees a handful of fights left and opens up a possibility that his final fight could see him go up against Manny Pacquiao at long last. Rafael gave his take on the likelihood of that happening.


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