Since July 18, 2005, he has been rated by The Ring magazine as the number-one pound-for-pound boxer in the world. Mayweather has won six world boxing championships in five different weight classes, and he is the Super welterweight champion. His next fight will be against Ricky Hatton on December 8, 2007.
Background
His father, Floyd Mayweather Sr., is a former welterweight contender. One of his uncles, Jeff Mayweather, is a former IBO super featherweight champion. Another uncle, former two-division world champion Roger Mayweather, is Mayweather Jr.'s current trainer.
Amateur career
Mayweather had a successful amateur career of 84-6. He won national Golden Gloves championships in 1993 (at 106 lb), 1994 (at 112 lb), and 1996 (at 125 lb). He was given the nickname "Pretty Boy" by his amateur teammates because his face never had cuts or bruises after fights—a result of the defensive techniques that his father (Floyd Mayweather Sr.) and uncle (Roger Mayweather) had taught him. In his orthodox defensive stance, Mayweather—much like James Toney—often utilizes the 'shoulder roll.' The shoulder roll is an old-school boxing technique in which the right hand is held normally or slightly higher than normal, the left hand is down around the midsection, and the lead shoulder is raised high on the cheek in order to cover the chin and block punches. The right hand (from orthodox stance) is used as it normally would be to block punches coming from the other side, such as left hooks. From this stance, Mayweather blocks, slips, and deflects most of his opponents' punches, even when cornered, by twisting left and right to the rhythm of their punches.
At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Mayweather won a bronze medal by reaching the finals of the featherweight (57 kg) division's 31-boxer tournament. In the opening round, Mayweather led 10-1 on points over Bakhtiyar Tileganov of Kazakhstan before he won by round 2 referee stoppage. In the second round, Mayweather outpointed Artur Gevorgyan of Armenia 16-3. In the quarterfinals, Mayweather survived a late rally by Lorenzo Aragon of Cuba to win 12-11. In his semifinal bout against the eventual silver medalist, Serafim Todorov of Bulgaria, Mayweather lost by a controversial decision that the U.S. team officially protested. Many who saw the bout, including the referee (who mistakenly raised Mayweather's hand when the decision was read), believed that Mayweather had won.
Professional career
Super Featherweight
Mayweather fought his first professional bout on October 11, 1996 against fellow newcomer Roberto Apodaca. Apodaca was knocked-out in round 2. Mayweather's trainer at the time was his uncle, Roger Mayweather, because Floyd Mayweather Sr. was still imprisoned after having been convicted of illegal drug trafficking in 1993. Mayweather Sr. took over as Mayweather Jr.'s trainer when he was released from prison (after Mayweather Jr.'s fourteenth fight—a second round knockout of Sam Girard). From 1996 to early 1998, Mayweather fought against relatively easy opponents and won most of the fights by knockout or TKO. The most notable of these fights was a unanimous decision victory over former champion Tony Pep on June 14, 1998.
In 1998, Mayweather won his first world title, the WBC junior lightweight (130 lb) championship, when the corner of Genaro Hernandez stopped the fight after round 8. Hernandez had never been defeated at the weight class. From there, Mayweather defended his title with performances against contenders such as Angel Manfredy and Carlos Gerena. Mayweather was named as The Ring magazine's fighter of the year for 1998.
Before he fought against former WBC featherweight champion Gregorio Vargas in early 2000, Mayweather fired his father as his manager and replaced him with James Prince. A few months after the fight, the rift between the father and son became wide enough that Mayweather Jr. fired Mayweather Sr. as his trainer as well. Roger Mayweather returned to his role as Mayweather Jr.'s trainer in his next bout—a non-title fight against Emanuel Burton. In an interview in 2004, Mayweather Jr. said that he loves Mayweather Sr. as his father but feels that he has better chemistry with Roger, and his father had put too much pressure on him to be perfect. On a May 7 appearance on the "Tonight Show", Mayweather stated that his father "just needs a hug" and that "everyone should just hug his father."
Mayweather's biggest fight as a junior lightweight was on January 20, 2001, against Diego Corrales. At the time, neither fighter had been defeated or knocked down. In the bout, Mayweather won every round and knocked down Corrales five times (three times in round 7 and twice in round 10). After the fifth knockdown, Corrales' cornermen climbed onto the apron and stopped the fight, thereby establishing Mayweather as one of the claimants to boxing's mythical pound-for-pound title. At the time of the stoppage, Mayweather was wide ahead on the scorecards, leading by the official tallies of 89-79, 90-79, and 90-78.
In Mayweather's next bout, on May 26, 2001, future IBF champion Carlos "Famoso" Hernández knocked down Mayweather for the first time. Mayweather entered the bout with injured hands. When Mayweather hit Hernández with a left hook in round 6, the pain caused Mayweather to drop his left hand to the canvas, and the referee called it a knockdown. Nonetheless, Mayweather won the fight by unanimous decision. In the award-winning documentary film More Than Famous, Hernández's bout against Mayweather was prominently featured.
Mayweather's last fight in the junior lightweight division was against future junior lightweight and lightweight champion Jesús Chávez. It was Mayweather's eighth defense of the WBC junior lightweight title, which he had held for more than three years. He won when Chávez's corner stopped the fight after round 9. Mayweather had such difficulty making weight for this fight that he did not eat for four days before the weigh-in.
Lightweight
In 2002, Mayweather moved up to the lightweight (135 lb) division. Mayweather fought only 4 bouts at this weight, but they were all world championship fights.
Mayweather won two bouts for the WBC and The Ring lightweight belts against José Luis Castillo. In their first bout, Castillo had success when he cut off the ring and used his strength to wear down Mayweather. But it was not enough to make up for his slow start in the fight. Still, some analysts feel that Mayweather should have lost the fight, but he won by unanimous decision. In the rematch, Mayweather used his quick footwork and combinations to coast to another unanimous decision victory, this time with no controversy.
On April 19, 2003, Mayweather dominated the Dominican Victoriano Sosa and won by unanimous decision. Mayweather's next fight (on November 1, 2003) was in his hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan. He fought against the promising South African knockout specialist Phillip Ndou, whose record was 31-1 with 30 KOs. Uncharacteristically, Mayweather was offensively oriented from the beginning of the fight. Round 5 was one of 2003's most action-packed. In the middle of the round, Mayweather landed a barrage of powerful punches. Ndou endured and threw wild punches that forced Mayweather into the ropes, but Mayweather demonstrated his rhythmic defensive technique and let Ndou wear himself out further. In round 6, Ndou wobbled and was pushed down. In round 7, a combination of three straight right hands knocked down Ndou and caused a TKO, when N'Dou's trainers - Nick Durandt and Tommy Brooks - contemplated throwing in the towel. However the ref stopped the fight as Ndou did not move forward (as part of a test to ensure he was okay from the knock down).
Light Welterweight
Mayweather then moved up to the junior welterweight (140 lb) division. His first fight in this division was against southpaw DeMarcus Corley. Mayweather used his speed to win the early rounds. In the first minute of round 4, Corley landed a solid left hand and drove Mayweather into the ropes, but Mayweather recovered and fought back ferociously. After that round, Mayweather mostly controlled Corley. Mayweather knocked down Corley in rounds 8 and 10, but Corley was able to continue until the end. Mayweather won by unanimous decision. The fight was Mayweather's only one in 2004.
On January 22, 2005, Mayweather fought against Henry Bruseles of Puerto Rico in a WBC junior welterweight title eliminator bout. Mayweather easily outclassed Bruseles throughout the first seven rounds. In round 8, Mayweather knocked down Bruseles twice, and the fight was stopped.
The win over Bruseles made Mayweather the mandatory challenger for Arturo Gatti's WBC junior welterweight championship. Before the fight, Mayweather was supremely confident. He described Gatti with terms such as "a C+ fighter," "a fake," and "a blown-up club fighter." The pay-per-view fight occurred on June 25, 2005 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where the fans heavily supported Gatti. Near the end of round 1, Mayweather pushed Gatti's head down in close and the referee instructed the fighters to "Stop punching." Gatti broke and left himself vulnerable whilst Mayweather either deliberately or indeliberately disobeyed the referee's command and continued to land punches. Gatti turned to the referee to complain and Mayweather capitalised, sending Gatti to the canvas with more shots for what was scored a knockdown, despite Gatti's complaints . Throughout the next five rounds, the much faster Mayweather landed with nearly every big shot against Gatti, who had no offense with which he could return fire. Gatti's corner stopped the fight after round 6—giving Mayweather his third world title. In the post-fight interview, Mayweather praised Gatti and claimed that his pre-fight comments "were just to sell tickets." Among many boxing experts, Mayweather's dominance over Gatti solidified his position as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Compubox had Mayweather outlanding Gatti by a total of 168 to 41.
One month after the Gatti fight, Mayweather went to trial for a domestic violence charge. He faced a minimum of one year in prison if he was convicted. Mayweather had been accused of violence against his former girlfriend, Josie Harris. Harris had claimed that Mayweather had punched and kicked her during an argument in Mayweather's Bentley, outside a Las Vegas nightclub in 2003. During the trial, however, Harris admitted that she had lied on the initial police report and testified that Mayweather never hit her. The jury acquitted Mayweather.
Welterweight
On November 19, 2005, Mayweather fought a non-title bout at 147 lb against welterweight Sharmba Mitchell. In round 3, Mayweather knocked down Mitchell with a straight right hand to the head. In round 6, another straight right hand—this one to Mitchell's body—dropped Mitchell again and ended the fight.
On April 8, 2006, Mayweather defeated Zab Judah for the IBF and vacant IBO world welterweight titles by unanimous decision. Beforehand, the fight had been jeopardized after Judah lost the WBC welterweight title to Carlos Manuel Baldomir on January 7, 2006, but Mayweather's and Judah's camps reworked the contract and decided that the fight would go on. In the fight, Mayweather stayed calm during Judah's aggressive early rounds. Mayweather began to dominate Judah in round 5, and Judah eventually bled. Near the conclusion of the tenth round, Judah hit Mayweather with a left hand that was clearly below the belt and followed up with a right-handed rabbit punch. After referee Richard Steele called time with five seconds remaining in the round, Roger Mayweather entered the ring and approached Judah, but Steele restrained him. Judah's father and trainer, Yoel Judah, entered the ring as well. Floyd remained in the neutral corner while both Yoel and Zab scuffled with Roger (and others who had entered the ring) until police and security managed to restore order. Roger was thrown out, but the fight continued and went the scheduled 12 rounds. Mayweather won by the official scores of 116-112, 117-111, and 119-109. Compubox statistics showed Mayweather as landing 188 punches to 82 for Judah.
Five days after the fight, the Nevada State Athletic Commission decided not to overturn the result of the bout, but Roger Mayweather was fined US$200,000 and suspended for one year. The suspension entails that Roger can train Mayweather Jr. in the gym but cannot work the corner during fights. On April 17, 2006, the IBF ordered a rematch between Mayweather and Judah, but the NSAC suspended Judah for one year on May 8, 2006. Mayweather vacated the IBF title on June 20, 2006.
Mayweather rejected an offer of US$8 million to fight Antonio Margarito and split with promoter Bob Arum for the possibility of a superfight with Oscar de la Hoya. De la Hoya, however, postponed his decision until 2007, leaving Mayweather in the awkward position of choosing his next opponent, while deflecting accusations that he had ducked Margarito. Mayweather considered moving up in weight again to fight junior middleweight champion Cory Spinks, but because of negative publicity and Spinks' impending mandatory defense of his title, he finally decided to face WBC and The Ring welterweight champion Carlos Baldomir on November 4, 2006 in Las Vegas.
Mayweather would ultimately defeat Baldomir by unanimous decision for both titles. Ringside punch statistics showed Mayweather landing 199 of 458 punches, while Baldomir landed just 79 of 670. Mayweather earned $8 million for the fight, while Baldomir was paid $1.6 million. Both were career highs in earnings for each fighter.
During the fight, Baldomir chased Mayweather sluggishly, unable to land any meaningful shots but trying to remain the busier fighter, while Mayweather picked away with sharp jabs and hooks, even managing to cut Baldomir over his left eye in the first round. This pattern continued throughout the fight. The defensive-minded Mayweather put on what many witnesses and Mayweather himself called a "boxing clinic" to take Baldomir's WBC and Ring welterweight titles in a lopsided 12 round decision. Two judges had Mayweather winning all 12 rounds, with the other giving all but two rounds to Mayweather. After the fight Mayweather called out for a fight with Oscar De la Hoya.
Light Middleweight/Superfight against Oscar De La Hoya
Mayweather's next match was the long-anticipated superfight against six-division champion and current WBC junior middleweight titleholder Oscar De La Hoya on May 5, 2007. De La Hoya's belt was on the line, which required Mayweather to move up in weight from 147 pounds to 154.
Despite De La Hoya's insistence that money was not a factor, the Mayweather-De La Hoya bout set the record for most PPV buys for a boxing match with 2.4 million households, shattering the record of 1.99 million for Evander Holyfield-Mike Tyson II. Around $120 million in revenue was generated by the PPV, which set another record. With the percentages factored in, Oscar De La Hoya ended up earning $58 million for the bout, the highest purse ever for a fighter. The previous record was $35 million, held by Tyson and Holyfield. Floyd Mayweather earned about $35 million for the fight.
At one time, Floyd Mayweather Sr., Mayweather Jr.'s father, was in talks to train Oscar De La Hoya and be in his corner during the fight but he decided to train with Freddie Roach. Roger Mayweather, Mayweather Sr.'s brother, was in Mayweather Jr.'s corner and trained him for the fight.
Mayweather Jr. came out escorted by 50 Cent rapping to his song Straight to the Bank.
Mayweather Jr. won the bout by a split decision, winning the title and improving his record to 38-0. Many fans booed the decision as it was read and even Mayweather Sr. said he felt his son had lost[citation needed]. Compubox numbers show that Mayweather landed considerably more punches even though he threw roughly half as many.[citation needed] The official judges' scores were 116-112 Mayweather, 115-113 Mayweather, and 115-113 De La Hoya.
Return to Welterweight
Mayweather decided to relinquish his WBC junior middleweight championship and kept his WBC welterweight championship. On July 28, 2007, it was announced that Mayweather will come out of his short retirement to fight light welterweight champion Ricky Hatton which will be promoted by Oscar De La Hoya's promotion company Golden Boy Promotions and Floyd Mayweather's "Mayweather Promotions." The bout was labeled "Undefeated" and will take place on December 8, 2007, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada. In the build up to their fight, Mayweather claimed that he is the greatest boxer ever, saying: "I respect what Robinson and Ali did for the sport. But I am the greatest, and this is my time."
No comments:
Post a Comment