Floyd Mayweather remained undefeated by winning a 12-round split decision over Oscar de la Hoya on Saturday to take the World Boxing Council super-welterweight title in an epic slugfest of US rivals.
Two judges scored the fight for Mayweather by 116-112 and 115-113 and gave Mayweather four of the final five rounds. The third judge saw de la Hoya winning 115-113 by taking three of the final five rounds.
Mayweather, who became a world champion in his fifth different weight class, improved to 38-0 while de la Hoya, a champion is six divisions, fell to 38-5.
PHOTO: EPA
"It was easy work for me. He was rough and tough. But he could not beat the best," Mayweather said. "I could see the shots coming. I stayed on the outside all night, boxed and made him miss.
"That's what you call a masterpiece of boxing," he said. "He's one of the best fighters of our era and I showed what I can do to one of the best fighters of our era."
De la Hoya, who pressed the attack early but tired at the finish, said he thought he had taken the decision.
"I felt I won. I felt I landed the hard punches, the crisper punches," de la Hoya said. "Every time I hit him I hurt him. I was pressing the fight. If I didn't press the fight there would be no fight."
It was the narrowest triumph of Mayweather's career and his first decision that was less than unanimous.
"I'm not Superman," he said. "I can't win every fight unanimously."
Mayweather also called it the greatest triumph of his career and declared it would be his farewell bout.
"As of now, Floyd Mayweather is officially retired from the sport of boxing," Mayweather said.
"I've done everything I wanted to do in the sport," he added. "I beat the best. I have made a ton of money. I've got nothing else to prove."
De la Hoya, who had only one fight in the prior two-and-a-half years, said he would analyze the fight before deciding whether or not to retire.
"We'll have to wait and see," de la Hoya said. "I've got to go back to the drawing board and watch the fight, see how my movements were, see how my timing was, just see how my body feels."
De la Hoya, 34, made US$25 million, while Mayweather, 30, took home US$10 million. Another hefty payday might entice a rematch.
Mayweather began landing harder punches in the eighth round and kept the pace to the end.
The final round was a series of clinches and misses until de la Hoya landed a flurry of punches, only to be smashed by Mayweather in response.
The bell rang to end the fight as the fighters traded a furious final exchange, then embraced each other.
"As a champion I wanted to stop him," de la Hoya said. "You owe it to the fans. You owe it to yourself to push yourself more. That's why I just tried to close the show."
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