Pretty boy Floyd or Money Mayweather is one of the greatest boxers the sport has ever seen, he has never in his 21-year long career lost a fight. He is a boxing genius, even though he does not have knockout power, his defensive brilliance is what gets him by his opponents and quick lightning hands. His defence is so elite that it’ll be hard for you to believe that in his 50 brilliant fights he never got a cut on his face hence the name Pretty Boy Floyd. He is without a question THE BEST DEFENSIVE BOXER EVER.
Mayweather has 15 titles in his career the lineal championship in four different weight classes. He won a bronze medal in the featherweight division at the 1996 Olympics. He won three U.S.Golden Gloves title (at light flyweight, flyweight, and featherweight). He also won the U.S national title at featherweight.
Let’s take a look at Floyd’s top 5 fights-
5. MANY PACQUIAO
This was the most anticipated fight of recent boxing history 2 greatest lightweight boxers in the same era never crossed the path in their whole career. Even though there were talks but it never resulted in a fight. Pacquiao who himself is as decorated as Floyd with a relentless offence was the perfect opponent against the defensive masterclass, Floyd. The only reason this fight is not higher on my list is that the fight did not live up to its expectations. Both fights were at the end of their career and could not compete at the level the fight was built up to. The Pac who was only able to land just 19% of his shots lost to the obvious undefeated boxer in a majority decision. Pac-Man after the fight revealed that he had a torn rotator cuff for his reason of loss but regardless it was Pretty Boy Floyd to walk with a win and both the fighters set the record of highest sold PPV generating 410 million dollars in the US alone.
4. CANELO ALVAREZ
He is the top fighter in boxing as of now, but when he fought he was just starting his illustrious career, at the age of 23, the Mexican was undefeated and was ranked as the number 1 boxer by Ring Magazine. Despite the Mexican out-weighed Floyd by 6.8 KGs, he was no match for the Money. Floyd orchestrated the whole fight, he controlled the pace, he was dominated every single round despite turning 36 years old. This was one of his most impressive fights, he out-classed the upcoming boxer in every manner and showcased his one of the most flawless boxing fights. Canelo before this fight and after this fight was and is still undefeated, I guess there is no shame in losing to Floyd Mayweather.
3. MIGUEL COTTO
This was in Mayweather’s own words “You are a hell of a champion — the toughest guy I fought.” The Puerto Rican who was defending his super light middleweight title for the 3rd time was able to damage the Pretty Boy by flustering his nose in the middle rounds. Mayweather who has been known to download the opponent’s boxing technique in the starting rounds was shocked by Cotto’s intensity, he had to dig deeper in his pockets to be able to defeat him. But in his usual style, he was able to get the win by completely out-boxing Cotto in the9th,10th, and 11th rounds with his counter punches, uppercuts, and undying stamina. Mayweather’s legendary conditioning won him this fight and the three judges scored the fight by 117-110 and the other two judges scored 118-110 in favour of Floyd. During the time of the fight, Floyd was also facing charges for domestic violence, despite all the trouble out of the ring, when he comes inside the square there is no way one can defeat him.
2. JOSE LUIS CASTILLO
After Floyd defended his 8th junior lightweight title, he finally moved up his weight class to challenge Catillo in the 61 KG weight class. This was Floyd’s most controversial fight, even though the result was him winning, many questioned the decision as Castillo dictated the game, pace by his constant pressure and mainly to the body, and out-landed Floyd in total punches landed by 203-157. Whatever the case may be, this in my opinion turned out to be his toughest fight as he has never in his career been in adversity in a fight. But he is an undefeated boxer for no reason, he silenced the critics by winning his 2nd fight against Castillo convincingly by winning in a close decision yet more favourable to the Pretty Boy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSK8Pe2RiDQ
1. OSCAR DE LA HOYA
Mayweather’s first fight at 154lbs was against the six-division champion and WBC light-middleweight titleholder Oscar De La Hoya.”The Pretty Boy” was 10lbs lighter than De La Hoya even though he moved up from welterweight. Although his opponent was heavier than Mayweather, Mayweather’s tactical approach with counters and right hands was too strong for De La Hoya to cope with. Mayweather sealed the victory by split decision to become a five-weight world champion, but perhaps his greatest achievement on the night was his elevation as a PPV star, in what was at the time the most remunerative boxing match in history.