Floyd Mayweather Might Bid Farewell On Free TV

Floyd Mayweather could be making his possible final career fight in two months on free television.

Mayweather insisted after the May 2 defeat of Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas that he would return for a final fight in September before heading into retirement. Mayweather backtracked on his willingness to give Pacquiao a rematch next year.

Mayweather, in winning the 147-pound unification fight, earned more than $220 million from the most lucrative fight in history.

A source told CBSSports.com that the Mayweather bout could be broadcast live on CBS on Sept. 12 for his 49th and final match. The Mayweather camp hasn't decided on an opponent.

The WBO stripped the undefeated Mayweather of his welterweight world title on Monday after he failed to surrender his titles from two other organizations. He was supposed to pay a $200,000 sanctioning fee by last Friday and vacate the middleweight titles he also holds from the WBC and WBA. Boxers are not allowed to hold world titles in multiple weight classes, but the WBC and WBA had been breaking their rules.

Now 38 years old, Mayweather signed a six-fight deal with Showtime Networks -- a wholly-owned subsidiary of the CBS Corporation -- in February 2013 and has since defeated Robert Guerrero, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, Marcos Maidana (twice) and Pacquiao.

The Pacquiao fight generated 4.4 million buys for a joint Showtime-HBO production, topping the previous pay-per-view record of 2.48 million buys from Mayweather's 2007 defeat of Oscar De La Hoya.

There are skeptics who don't believe the September fight will be Mayweather's last.

"Highly unlikely (he retires in September)," veteran matchmaker Rick Glaser told CBSSports.com. "The state of his financial situation -- aka cash on hand -- will dictate his future. More than likely, (it's two) fights and leaving the game."

SOURCE