One more belt, one more f ight

Monday, Nov. 6, 2006 | 7:37 a.m.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. made a startling announcement late Saturday night, vowing to retire from his beloved sport of boxing after fighting just one more time.

Then he issued a challenge to skeptics - to cynical boxing fans accustomed to fighters retiring and unretiring ad infinitum, to anyone tempted to ask Mayweather, who wore a Julius Caesar gladiator getup into the ring Saturday, "Et tu, Floyd?"

Mayweather's response: Doubt him at your own risk.

"People will say, 'Aw, Floyd, you gonna be like other boxers and come back,' " Mayweather said. "No, I'm not. When I'm gone, I'm gone. I'm not gonna change my mind."

Mayweather, who dismantled Carlos Baldomir by runaway unanimous decision for the WBC welterweight title Saturday night at Mandalay Bay, said he has accomplished all he ever desired in boxing.

On his impressive resume are five world titles in four weight classes, an undefeated record in 37 professional bouts and the consensus, if unofficial, pound-for-pound championship of boxing.

All that's left is a potential megafight against fellow future Hall of Famer Oscar De La Hoya next spring, a match that would rank among the richest in the sport's history.

"I think he'll get in the ring with me after tonight," Mayweather (37-0, 24 knockouts) said. "If he wants to, he knows how to reach me."

Although a fight against De La Hoya would serve as a career-defining fight, cementing his legacy, Mayweather insisted he'll retire "with or without De La Hoya."

Mayweather also criticized De La Hoya, who is trained by his estranged father, Floyd Sr., for his performance in a 2004 loss to Bernard Hopkins.

"Oscar De La Hoya will never go down as a legend like I will," Mayweather said in an attempt to start selling the fight with trash talk. "When he fought Hopkins, he laid there (after getting knocked down with a vicious body shot). You telling me you can meet the mat, but you can't get up?"

Mayweather, who would probably be installed as roughly a 2-1 betting favorite against De La Hoya, was adamant that he'd have little trouble beating him.

If the match can't be made - unlikely, considering the tens of millions of dollars at stake - fights against England's Ricky Hatton, Antonio Margarito, Paul Williams or even Shane Mosley would become candidates for Mayweather's supposed farewell bout.

The catch is, Mayweather has displayed little interest in deigning to offer any of them a shot. As one indignant British newspaper put it this past weekend: "Our correspondent says the arrogant American refuses to treat Hatton as an equal."

The arrogant American was barely tested by the overmatched Argentinian on Saturday, winning by scores of 120-108 twice and 118-110 before 9,427 at the Events Center.

The Sun's scorecard also had it a shutout, 120-108.

"It was a cakewalk in the park," Mayweather said, mangling metaphors as if they were Baldomir's face.

Baldomir's punches numbered in the single digits in 11 of the 12 rounds, according to CompuBox stats, and he averaged six punches a round compared with the welterweight standard of 18.

"Floyd Mayweather is the best in the world," Baldomir (43-10-6) said. "I lost to the best."

Even the world's most talented fighter would not be the main attraction in a fight against De La Hoya, however - Mayweather's wildly optimistic ranting notwithstanding.

"When you go to a Lakers game, you don't care who the Lakers are playing - you come to see Kobe (Bryant)," said Mayweather, who turns 30 on Feb. 24. "When you come to a Floyd Mayweather fight, you come to see Floyd Mayweather. ...

"It's got to be on my terms, or the (De La Hoya) fight won't happen. I'll fight somebody else, and it's adios, amigos."