Floyd Mayweather Jr. was just too big and too quick in Las Vegas on Saturday that not even a man who is tough enough to drink his own urine could leave a mark on the returning showman.
Having been in retirement for 21 months we should have witnessed some ring rustiness, it didn’t happen. Mayweather used all of his defensive prowess to stay out of trouble and fought expertly behind his potent jab to make Juan Manuel Marquez look amateur.
Saturday’s fight has been called a mismatch by some experts, but that is unfair on Mayweather whose swaggering performance was that of a man hell-bent on convincing the few remaining doubters that he is the sports classiest performer.
There is only one fight left out there for him before he retires again, but money, promoters and a Puerto Rican could prevent the super-clash against Manny Pacquiao happening.
Pacquiao fights Miguel Cotto in Vegas in November, a skilful, powerful Puerto Rican opponent who has only been defeated once and will provide a far sterner test than Ricky Hatton or Oscar de la Hoya did.
Defeat for Pacquiao would end any immediate hope of a showdown with Mayweather and would probably bring Marquez back into the fold for a third battle between the pair which, after their first two fights, would not be a bad thing.
The second stumbling block ahead of a Mayweather-Pacquiao match-up is money. Both fighters are renowned negotiators. Could they reach a resolution?
The third issue is Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum who Mayweather once sued after buying out his contract with the Top Rank boss.
When asked about a possible fight with Pacquiao last week, Mayweather ominously said: “He (Pacquiao) has a boss (Arum) and I’m my own boss. So, in order to make that happen, he has to go through his boss.”
But if these issues could be overcome it would be a fascinating contest to watch, despite the fact I can only see one winner.
For now Mayweather is back to his dazzling best and set to reclaim the pound-for–pound crown.