Three Things Fans Need To Know About Floyd Mayweather’s Return to Pro Boxing

On Friday, undefeated welterweight boxer Floyd Mayweather announced that he’s returning to professional boxing this year.

Just days before his 49th birthday, Mayweather is deciding to put his 50-0 record on the line, as he believes he still has the skills to be one of the best fighters in the world.

"I still have what it takes to set more records in the sport of boxing," Mayweather said in a press release. "From my upcoming Mike Tyson event to my next professional fight afterwards, no one will generate a bigger gate, have a larger global broadcast audience, and generate more money with each event than my events."

Here are three big things that fans need to know about Mayweather’s return.

He hasn’t fought since 2017

Mayweather's last professional boxing match was in 2017 against UFC star Conor McGregor.

Mayweather was expected to dominate the fight against an MMA fighter early, but McGregor started strong and was ahead on one judge's card for the first few rounds. The defensive-minded Mayweather outlasted McGregor, who started to fatigue later in the fight.

In the final round, the referee stopped the fight, awarding the win to Mayweather. Afterwards, he announced that it would be his final professional bout.

Since then, Mayweather has secured major paydays from fighting influencers like Logan Paul and Deji Olatunji in exhibition bouts, which leads him to his next venture…

Mayweather will fight Mike Tyson before making a professional return to the ring

Before returning to professional fighting, Mayweather has secured one final big money exhibition fight against the legendary Mike Tyson.

Tyson, 59, is returning to the ring after losing to Jake Paul in 2024’s Netflix spectacle.

Certainly, Mayweather vs. Tyson will be very similar to what we saw the last time Tyson was in the ring – two guys dancing around without throwing punches significant enough to really hurt one another. Millions will tune in (both legally and illegally), it’ll somehow make a ton of cash and then everybody will forget about it.

But we’ll have to wait until that fight on April 25th before seeing Mayweather back in the ring again.

Mayweather’s return to boxing might be financially driven

Nicknamed “Money” throughout his legendary career, Mayweather was known for securing massive paydays for his pay-per-view fights.

As things go, the lavish lifestyle could have the boxing legend facing financial uncertainties.

Just last month, Mayweather filed a lawsuit against Showtime seeking at least $340 million, alleging that the network owes that amount from his reported $1.2 billion in career fight purses, claiming aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty, civil conspiracy to commit fraud, conversion and unjust enrichment.

The timing of that lawsuit parlayed with an announcement that he’s returning to the professional fighting scene has made some believe that Mayweather could be facing tough times.

Regardless, Manny Pacquiao also returned to the ring and could schedule an intriguing rematch against Mayweather.