There is a line on the horizon towards which this ship is sailing. Already it is becoming difficult to distinguish the vessel clearly through the fog as it gets farther and farther away. And once it is gone, it is gone forever. This is the nature of the career of Floyd Mayweather these days. The debate as to whether he truly is The Best Ever is one for another day, but he is undoubtedly in the conversation. Yet the 37 year old has retirement in his sights these days and each fight is a rare and quickly vanishing opportunity to witness a legend at work.

His latest bout was a rematch with the opponent in his previous one. Marcos Maidana, 31, of Argentina. A technically strong fighter with a superb knockout record. Mayweather claimed a majority decision in May and was typically confident of repeating the result.

For a little while there it looked like Floyd had a challenge on his hands. Could Maidana do what no fighter had ever done before? The fourth round was the first in which MM was able to trouble the champ, getting him against the ropes and dishing out the punishment. Really roughing him up. But it was also the only round in which he managed that. Floyd went on to take every round after that, with the exception of the final one which FM basically forfeited in order to avoid any mythical knockdowns or Acts of a Vengeful God. A unanimous decision victory and Floyd Mayweather Jr is now 47-0.

Really, the biggest drama was whether or not Marcos Maidana bit Floyd Mayweather on the glove at one stage in the eighth (Ouch, my glove!). Floyd was incessant and the referee stopped the clock to send each fighter back to their corners for a little cool down. The replays shone plenty of light. Maidana certainly appeared to take a quick nibble… but only because Floyd was mashing his face with his glove so he couldn’t breathe. According to Mayweather, three of his fingers were numb after that ‘bite’, which is hard to believe given there was a glove and a mouth-guard in between teeth and digits. Interestingly the fight was held in the same ring as the infamous Tyson-Holyfield bout.

Floyd gave himself a “C or C-Minus” grade for his night’s efforts. He said he knew he could have done better. That’s the scary thing too, he’s right. Whereas the margin of error to beat this guy is so slim, his own is a cavernous gulf of counter punching and swift footwork. The same old story: if you leave a lazy jab hanging in there, he will punish you. If you drop the gloves for a second or you get carried away with a flurry of hooks as he seems to be flailing against the ropes… Floyd will come back with that right hand to the side of the head and he will connect and it will hurt. His accuracy of power punches is just incredible, and his ability to avoid trouble with his movement is almost unprecedented.

Mayweather got exactly the fight he wanted. Part of that was due to a referee who was unwilling to see the fighters get tied up, consistently breaking them when Maidana still had a hand free to swing with. MM needed to fight scrappy but he barely got the chance. In fact Maidana was even deducted a point in the tenth when he drove Mayweather to the ground with a tied up elbow, which was harsh (even if by that stage it didn’t matter). But in all sports you find the dominant force getting the benefit of the judicial doubt more often than their besieged opponents. It’s not bias, it’s momentum. Why does Lionel Messi win more penalties than [insert random footballer]? Not because he dives but because he takes players on. Why does so-and-so concede fewer penalties? Not because of a cheating ref but because they don’t need to dive in to tackles because they’re always in the right position early.

At this stage of his career, each fight is like those days spent eagerly awaiting the next episode of Breaking Bad’s final season, only we already know how it’s gonna end. Floyd doesn’t lose. There are theories how to beat him, but none has ever been able to put together those 12 perfect rounds of power, guile and effort. We don’t know who against yet, but he’ll fight next in May. Then probably again in September and if we’re lucky the Money Team will be back for number 50 sometime after that.

Can anyone beat Mayweather? Sure. Of course. Will they though? Not likely. Father Time would seem to be his most dangerous opponent yet there were no signs of deterioration. If he wants to, this guy can fight into his 40s.

The Manny Pacquiao thing was the main talking point afterwards. Floyd sorta skirted the issue but he wasn’t throwing up excuses or anything. He understandably said he’d discuss his next move with his team before speculating. Pacquiao is a fighter who has shown signs of aging in his last few bouts and at this stage I think Mayweather beats him as comfortably as he beats anyone else. The British fighter Amir Khan is the guy I want to see him locked in fisticuffs with. Young and unorthodox, we’d at least be guaranteed a fight where Floyd couldn’t just go through the motions.  

Who knows though? These days any opportunity to see him fight is an opportunity not to be missed. Long live Team Money.