I Heard Floyd Mayweather Is Fighting Again, In May

Floyd Mayweather is retired, or, maybe, if you think like me, “retired.”

He left the ring after toying with Andre Berto in September 2015 and insists that he is happy as an ex pugilist.

There is mistrust toward that declaration and not because it stems from a dislike of Floyd. No, it's because of all the promises that are uttered and life offers you, a boxer's retirement announcement must be taken with two grains of salt.

For most all of them, it is an addiction, a multi pronged one. Fame, the adulation assault one receives from being revered for in ring exploits, it is not replicate outside a ring. Not unless one goes from ace pugilist to renowned musical artist who can draw 18,000 invested rooters to your show can you mimic the feelings of being a ring star.

And money, where else can most beings score such a bloated lump sum?

Rumors dog Floyd like Conor McGregor and his callouts; Tuesday I saw a Tweet in which in the author insisted Floyd is looking at a May comeback fight.

Mayweather insisted, forcefully, at a Wednesday press conference at Barclays Center in Brooklyn that he is done done done with fighting. Whereas he's more than hinted that the right financial package could bring him off the hammock, to media at the Badou Jack-James DeGale presser he said he has no itch to scratch.

Someone in a position to know is Showtime boxing boss Stephen Espinoza. His cabler will show the Jan 14 Jack v DeGale smashup and he was at the arena. I asked him, has he had a recent chat with the 39 year old retiree about gloving up again to try and snag his 50th victory?

“I throw out that possibility every time we meet, basically, and there's been talk of Mayweather Promotions getting a ShoBox date in 2017. So his coming back would be part of a conversation, so I send out a feeler, try to get a sense of, does it mean anything that there's a fresh coat of paint up at his gym,” Espinoza said. “And Floyd, if he's thinking about fighting, he has a great future career as a professional poker player. It could come at any point, but I haven't seen even a twinkle in Floyd's eye about coming back.”

So there's the latest. Me, I'm kicking my can down the road, thinking maybe the itch returns after Floyd turns 40 in February, and maybe we see a September sequel to MayPac.

Death, taxes, and boxers' comebacks, life's certainties…