Mayweather Jr. retires, cancels rematch with De La Hoya

By Dan Rafael

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Pound-for-pound king and welterweight world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. announced his retirement from boxing Friday.

"It is with a heavy heart that I write you this message today," Mayweather, 31, said in a statement. "I have decided to permanently retire from boxing. This decision was not an easy one for me to make, as boxing is all I have done since I was a child. However, these past few years have been extremely difficult for me to find the desire and joy to continue in the sport."

The retirement means that Mayweather's scheduled Sept. 20 rematch with Oscar De La Hoya is off.

"I have been informed of Floyd's decision and I wish him good luck," Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com. "I wish him good luck in his retirement. We will move on. Sometime next week I will announce a big fight for Oscar. There are different names out there and I will be working diligently to announce in the coming days Oscar's next fight."

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