Floyd Mayweather vs. Berto: Round-by-Round Analysis and Recap

The fight is over, and so is Floyd Mayweather's career, possibly. If this is, indeed, the pound-for-pound King's final performance, he will walk away from the sport tied with the iconic Rocky Marciano, boasting a perfect 49-0 mark. 

By scores of 120-108, 118-110 and 117-111, Floyd Mayweather has defeated Andre Berto by unanimous decision. 

Nobody can fault Berto for effort. But his strategy was completely one-dimensional, and his technical skill was not even in the same neighborhood as Mayweather's. Throughout the night, Berto consistently came forward at the same angles, working in the same rhythm and throwing at the same speed. 

In the end, Berto's performance demonstrated exactly why so many observers were critical, even incredulous, when he was announced as an opponent. 

Andre Berto flicked the first jab in this match, as both men took the center of the ring and began to circle. But within the first minute, Mayweather had managed to score with jabs to both the body and head and a lead hook upstairs. 

Inside of two minutes, Mayweather began to use a bit more movement, luring Berto forward and into counters. But overall in the round, Mayweather looked quite content to sit in the pocket and beat Berto to the punch. 

With only about 30 seconds left in the round, Mayweather landed a sharp lead hook to the head. He then began to move a bit more, once again causing Berto to chase. 

Floyd Mayweather faded back to the ropes inside of the first seconds of this round, causing Andre Berto to attempt to bull rush him, with Mayweather immediately tying him up. 

The first full minute of the round featured mostly defensive movement from Mayweather, as a very quiet crowd watched. Berto merely chased, rather than making any meaningful attempt to cut off the ring. 

Berto caused a bit of a crowd reaction inside of the final minute by momentarily engaging Mayweather in a corner. But he landed nothing significant. 

It was a very low-action round. Mayweather moved into the center of the ring and landed a looping right hand in the closing seconds. 

In the opening seconds of the round, Floyd Mayweather momentarily engaged in the center of the ring, landing a flurry. Then it was more futile chasing for Andre Berto, for most of the opeing minute.

Berto appeared dogged, but also tight and completely outclassed. Even in range, he had no ability to connect. Of his first 19 punches attempted in this round, he landed just once. 

Mayweather, meanwhile, used his classic movement to set up sharp right hands and lead hooks. A fighter who has always been a master of distance continued to have his way with a determined opponent. 

Andre Berto continued to attempt to throw his jab, doubling and tripling it. However, he consistently threw the punch from out of range and at a very predictable speed.

Floyd Mayweather took Berto's distance by either slipping back or closing inside and clinching. Just before the halfway mark of the round, Mayweather landed a jolting lead hook.

Mayweather buckled Berto with a big right hand inside the final minute. The rest of the round continued to be a one-sided affair, with Berto even resorting to some clinching down the stretch.

Andre Berto's trainer Virgil Hunter did his best to deliver a pep talk between rounds, but once the bell rang for Round 5, it was just more of the same. Berto's probelm was not a lack of aggression, but the fact that his aggression was predictable at every step. 

He came forward in a straight line and moved inside so quickly that he was putting himself into the clinch. At the midway point of the round, he managed to briefly muscle Mayweather to the ropes and was warned for a low blow. 

This was a very defensive round for Mayweather, with a lot of movement. However, he once again landed more punches and avoided nearly everything. 

Floyd Mayweather opened up the offense in this round, scoring with a flurry in the opening seconds. At about the 30-second mark, Berto landed a nice left hand, his first good punch of the fight. 

But Mayweather banged at his body in return. Inside the two-minute mark, Mayweather landed a nice combination hook and uppercut. For the round, Mayweather landed over 20 power punches at a rate of over 60 percent.

With the fight half over, it was hard to see how Andre Berto had won as much as a single round. Mayweather stayed tight in the pocket for the first minute, slipping everything Berto threw while consistently landing punches upstairs and down with either hand. 

Berto continued to come at the same speed, making it tremendously easy for Mayweather to pick his spots to shift from offense to defense or change the range. 

Berto did manage to land a nice left hand with only 20 seconds left in the round, and it got Mayweather's attention and woke up the crowd. Unfortunately for Berto, it only motivated Mayweather to open up with a last scoring flurry. 

In Round 8, Andre Berto continued to merely chase Floyd Mayweather, doing little to nothing to actually cut the ring off. At the mid-point of the round, Mayweather made a very slick move with his back to the ropes to slip position and connect on Berto with two lead hooks. 

The second half of the round featured Mayweather on his toes, bouncing on the outside then slipping into range to pot-shot the challenger. 

The fight had begun to look like a sparring session between two fighters of vastly different skill levels. 

Andre Berto came out in the round and attempted to muscle Floyd Mayweather into the ropes, but once again, Mayweather quickly clinched and muffled any offensive threat Berto could present. 

Mayweather showed little action in the first half of the round. He camped against the ropes after the midway mark and slipped a series of punches and peppered Berto in return with uppercuts. 

Berto continued to be relentless in his effort, but also completely ineffective. After a pit of jawing when they were separated in the clinch with about 40 seconds left, Mayweather brielfly opened up with a flurry, then went back on defense for the closing seconds of the round. 

At the end of Round 9, Floyd Mayweather told his father and trainer, Floyd Sr., that his hand was hurt. Realistically, he could probably have cut it off and still would have been in no danger of losing the fight. 

The most action of the fight occurred in this round, but unfortunatey, it was in the form of the two combatants jawing at each other. 

Berto continued to fire his quick jabs from out of range, making it very easy for Mayweather to pop his own lead left inside of the space Berto left. Inside of the first minute, Mayweather sat down on two good lead hooks. 

Berto managed to trap Mayweather brieflty on the ropes inside of 30 seconds, but his aggression smothered his offense in another clinch.

The trash talk continued after the final bell. 

Virgil Hunter told Andre Berto the fight was "close" and that Berto was "only down a round" before the start of Round 11. That was pure fantasy, of course. Berto had arguably not won a single round. 

This round looked very much like the previous 10. Mayweather jolted Berto with a lead hook inside the first minute of the round. Inside the final minute, he alternated between dancing on the outside and moving into range to strafe Berto. 

I don't think Mayweather missed with more than about 10 percent of his total punches in this round. 

As Floyd Mayweather fought what could be the final three minutes of his career, he looked almost exactly like the fighter fans have come to expect. He danced on the outside, then moved into range when he wanted to and landed with almost everything he threw. 

Mayweather camped out on the ropes inside the halfway mark and picked Berto apart, slipping and countering. 

Inside the final minute, Mayweather rocked Berto with an uppercut and then flurried hard. He landed a big uppercut at the 20-second mark, then moved out of range and danced a victory dance for the final 10 seconds of the fight. 

In the end, it was exactly the fight most observers had predicted.