Dormant rumors of a Floyd Mayweather return to the ring grew rampant, Sunday (May 1), as confirmation that the retired great had filed for trademarks tagging the number "50" onto his company's acronym, began to circulate the news cycle. ESPN was only one of the networks to vouch that on April 21, Mayweather Promotions had indeed trademarked the phrases: "TMT 50" [The Money Team 50] and "TBE 50" [The Best Ever 50]. There is also record of 140 other trademarks pending in the company's name.
While securing trademarks does not guarantee that an event will actually manifest, Mayweather Promotions' interest in the round five/zero certainly does add to mounting evidence that he may soon announce a comeback. Only a day prior to news of the trademarks, Floyd assumed his regular ringside seats to watch his partner Showtime Boxing's April 30th card in D.C. But before settling down for the evening's main event he was pulled over by commentator Jim Gray, who invited him to address talk about a possible return.
“Right now, I’m happy being on (the promotional) side, but I’ve been talking with CBS and Showtime, and you just never know," Floyd said. “As of right now, some crazy numbers have been thrown my way — upwards, of course, of nine figures."
Many questions loom concerning what it would take to satisfy Mayweather to pursue a 50th fight. His record grossing affair with Manny Pacquiao earned him a nine-figure $220 million purse, leading to wonder as to whether the consummate over-achiever will demand a guarantee that will supersede that number. Then there is curiosity around who his opponent would be, considering he wiped out all of his contemporaries. A possible rematch with Mexican superstar Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez or a fight with Canelo's coming opponent, Amir Khan would promise huge dividends, while talks with Danny Garcia wouldn't be ruled out, and there is a fan buzz around Gennady Golovkin [although he is promised to fight Andre Ward sometime in the near distant future]. Whatever the case, the money is knocking on the door, as is the allure of moving past Rocky Marciano's storied 49-0 run. And TBE is perhaps putting his ducks in a row.
Source: espn.go.com
