Floyd Mayweather has retired: it’s official. Very few believe him but we can only take a man at his word and he says he is done with boxing.

– Boxing: Mayweather equals record with unanimous decision
– VIDEO: Mayweather – I’m ten steps ahead of any fighter
– VIDEO: Mayweather Senior – Marciano fought bums, my son was liked

That means Saturday night’s deconstruction of Andre Berto was his farewell to the sport. A deeply dissatisfying but also entirely logical one at that.

Mayweather has and always will be a divisive figure and his last act in a boxing ring armed his critics with more ammunition than they will ever need.

Watching the 38-year-old easily outclass Berto you got the distinct impression he could have been doing exactly the same to any elite contender from 140 to 154lbs. But he wasn’t, he was doing it to Berto, and that’s what leaves a bad taste.

Mayweather has been handpicking opponents for years and for his swansong he opted for his easiest assignment since he knocked out an unwitting Victor Ortiz in 2011.

Berto started the bout as a 100-1 outsider because everybody knew that he had been selected for one thing – to lose. Mayweather’s achievements are immense, but he signed off from the sport being booed in his adopted hometown. That says a lot.

His safety first approach to fighting, and more pertinently to matchmaking, are the reasons a bona fide legend of the ring concluded his career in such an inglorious manner.

People will tell you boxing is all about the skill of hitting and not being hit and that ‘Money’ is the best at that particular art. But it seems like false glory when the person opposite you in the ring is as fundamentally inferior as Berto proved to be.

Look up the current welterweight rankings and pick any name from the top 10 (Berto doesn’t feature) and they would have been a more deserving candidate to challenge the self-proclaimed ‘best ever’ to do it.

Yes, he fought Manny Pacquaio in May and was masterful in victory but it was a fight he avoided for five years. You could also place an asterisk next to a few more of his notable wins. Small advantages leveraged by his status as the big draw, while not many of the big names were at their peak, and it is this unapologetic risk management which caveats what should be a glorious legacy.

Of course boxing differs from other sports and strategic mismatches are nothing new, but that doesn’t mean fans should just accept terrible fights or when the man at the top damages boxing’s credibility. Frankly, the booing at the MGM Grand was unsurprising.

Is it the last we have seen of him? It’s hard to believe a man who worships cash will resist a money-spinning comeback for fight number 50 – just forgive us for not being overly excited by the prospect.