Floyd Mayweather Jr. still believes he has what it takes to be boxing’s biggest draw. And he’s coming out of retirement to prove it.
Mayweather announced on Friday that he will end his retirement and resume his pro boxing career after his spring 2026 boxing exhibition with Mike Tyson. Also, Mayweather announced signing an exclusive promotional agreement with CSI Sports/Fight Sports.
"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. And I plan to keep doing it with my global media partner, CSI Sports/FIGHT SPORTS."
The announcement is interesting timing considering the news over the past few weeks that Mayweather filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Showtime earlier this month, claiming he is owed “at least” $340 million from his reported $1.2 billion in career fight purses.
Mayweather has not boxed professionally since August 2017, when he scored a knockout win over MMA and UFC star Conor McGregor, a fight that ran Mayweather’s record to 50-0 and drew 4.3 million pay-per-view buys, second only to Mayweather’s bout against Manny Pacquiao in 2015, which drew 4.6 million buys.
Since retiring after the McGregor bout, Mayweather has appeared in several exhibitions, including one against Logan Paul that drew about 1 million buys. But while Mayweather and company say the exhibition with Tyson will take place this spring, no information regarding the exhibition has been confirmed yet.
