Mayweather on Berto: ‘Every time he goes out, he’s exciting’

FLoyd Mayweather Jr. during the final press conference held at the KA Theatre in MGM Grand, Las Vegas Nevada on Wednesday, 29 April 2015. PHOTO BY REM ZAMORA/INQUIRER/ See more at FRAME

Floyd Mayweather Jr. defended his choice to face Andre Berto on September 12 in what the undefeated pound-for-pound fighter has insisted to be his farewell fight.

Mayweather took heavy criticism from boxing fans to experts for taking the relatively easy way out in his selection of Berto, a two-time welterweight champion but appeared to be past his championship form with a 3-3 record in his last six bouts.

READ: Floyd Mayweather Jr defends choice of Berto as his final foe

The 38-year-old Mayweather (48-0, 26 knockouts), who owns the WBA and WBC welterweight belts, is tipped to win a cakewalk as an 80-1 favorite over Berto (31-3, 24 KOs).

But Mayweather believes Berto’s recent showing doesn’t reflect how good of a fighter he still is.

The five-division world champion made the UFC as an example with fighters, who have suffered strings of setbacks, being given titles given title shots despite their mediocre records.

READ: Berto vows to kick Mayweather’s ass

“Like MMA, you have guys in the MMA who [have] 10-9 [records] and fighting for world championships,” Mayweather told BoxingScene.com. “This guy (Berto) won over 80% of his fights and it’s a problem now? Like I said before, I can only judge a guy off his last performance and every time he go out he’s exciting.” CFC