It was a strange night in London, with poor ticket sales and delays to the event in the misguided hope that crowds of fans would soon arrive. The chief support saw two US reality TV stars get into a brawl suggesting neither of them had even looked at their boxing gloves in construction.
But Mayweather did what Mayweather does, working his way through the eight rounds and giving a clinic to a crowd seemingly made up largely of his entourage.
His trademark head flick was on display and he landed some sharp left hooks, though the 50-0 legend never really showed any particular desire to push for a stoppage.
Chalmers let go of his hands more and more as the fight went on, with very little success, and he soon turned his attention to other lucrative fighters on offer.
“He caught us clean on the chin in the second round and it woke us up a lot of the time,” said Chalmers after the fight. “The right hand was then glued to my chin.
“He is fucking incredible. Incredible. That’s one to tell the grandkids. My win was to get to the eighth round, which is why I did.
“Thanks to Floyd and his team, hopefully I’m ahead in the mix Jack Paul and KSI. That looks good on the resume – eight rounds with Floyd.
This was Mayweather’s first fight in the UK and he made sure to enjoy himself by dancing between rounds and engaging in conversation with Chalmers’ corner, dodging the shots coming at him and many of his own shots landed.
The 46-year-old claimed he could return to the UK to pay tribute to the fans, but the sight of empty seats and a closed top row at the O2 Arena would suggest Mayweather’s money-making tour isn’t enough of a sign to say that to justify.
“The UK is incredible, the fans are incredible,” said Mayweather. “The UK is becoming the mecca of boxing.
“This guy is rock solid. I came to the UK to entertain people, we had eight rounds of fun. I’m glad I came.”
On Chalmers’ future, he added: “He’s got a tough chin and he’s a tough competitor. All he has to do is keep believing in his skills and hard work, anything is possible.”