Mayweather: I'm ‘The Best Ever’ till the day I die

Despite fans and media being critical for his selection of Andre Berto for his final bout, Floyd Mayweather thinks his legacy has already been cemented from beating all of the best fighters of his generation. That being the case, he doesn't much care what the public at large think of his 49th and final fight. Floyd essentially says that by beating the anointed-one in Manny Pacquiao, there is nothing left for him to prove.

"Everybody that said throughout the years that I was a coward, I was scared, he couldn't beat Pacquiao. They gave him this. They gave him so many accolades and he's an all-time great.

"But all these people had to eat their words. So if he's an all-time great, then what does that make me? If they're saying he's the fighter of the century, what does that make me?

The answer Floyd is looking for is 'TBE.'

"So when they do rate me and when my fight is over, the only thing I can do is believe in myself and believe in my skills. I'm going to be ‘The Best Ever' till the day I die," he said.

Many pundits believe that Floyd's career will be reflected upon in a more favorable light years after he retires than it is now, while he still irritates the public at large. In fact, despite the criticism of where and when Floyd fought some of his toughest opponents, Al Bernstein recently made an interesting point about this thought process when voting for HOF candidates.

Bernstein essentially said that, truth be told, when casting his HOF ballots he doesn't often remember the circumstances surrounding where and when a fighters marquee fights took place - but if he see's several wins over other HOF fighters on a fighter's resume, then he thinks that fighter has done very well.

That's probably the case for many HOF voters, and although no one is really questioning Floyd being a first ballot HOF inductee, Bernstein's point does lend itself to the thought that Floyd might well be consider higher in the all time ranks years from now than he is today.