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Floyd Mayweather has retired before -- multiple times, in fact -- and it's never stuck. Still, he's talking about walking away from the sport of boxing yet again heading into Saturday's clash with Marcos Maidana on Showtime pay-per-view.
"I may have three fights after this, I'm really not sure. I don't know what I'm going to do," Mayweather said on Wednesday at a press conference.
"But I can promise you this: Saturday, I'm going to give you guys what you want to see. It's not going to be the same fight that I fought with Canelo. It's not going to be the same fight that I fought with Robert Guerrero. It's going to be a totally different fight. No game plan at all. I'm going to be right there.
"I think styles make fights. I'm looking to win and I'm looking to win very impressively."
Mayweather (45-0, 26 KO) has promised toe-to-toe battles heading into fights before, then delivered his usual master class in style and grace once the bell rings, dominating opponents without much action, simply because nobody can hit him clean, or clean enough times to make it a real fight.
"I'm pretty sure he's coming straight ahead and we'll see how the fight plays out," Floyd continued. "If I feel like walking away I'll walk away."
After this bout, Mayweather will have three fights left on his record deal with Showtime and CBS Sports, which was signed in early 2013. When the deal came through, calling for six fights within three years, many were skeptical that Mayweather would actually deliver all six events. He's on pace to do so, but once again, he's talking about an exit strategy, or at least an exit.
Will he retire? Probably not. Is this just talk to get some more buzz around a fight that doesn't have much buzz, relatively speaking? That's possible, because he may have burned out "this will be an action fight" claims as a way to get people who are on the fence to tune in.
Do you think Floyd is seriously considering retiring after this fight, or before he completes the remaining three bouts after this one, or is it just talk?