Floyd Mayweather Jr.: Difference between revisions
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Back in 1976, Ali took on wrestler Antonio Inoki in Tokyo. They went 15 rounds before the fight was ruled a draw. Inoki spent most of the fight on his back in a basic jiu-jitsu defensive posture and repeatedly kicked at Ali's legs. Ali's punching was useless, as he threw just six punches the entire fight. |
Back in 1976, Ali took on wrestler Antonio Inoki in Tokyo. They went 15 rounds before the fight was ruled a draw. Inoki spent most of the fight on his back in a basic jiu-jitsu defensive posture and repeatedly kicked at Ali's legs. Ali's punching was useless, as he threw just six punches the entire fight. |
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So there you have it. Three decades before MMA stole boxing's thunder and 17 years before Gracie burst onto the scene, the greatest boxer of all-time could do nothing against a professional wrestler who used defensive martial arts tactics that were primitive by the standards of today's MMA. |
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Maybe Mayweather knew what he was doing, backing off from his trash talk against UFC. |
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Revision as of 15:25, 14 March 2008
Floyd Mayweather Jr. | |
|---|---|
| File:FloydMayweather.png | |
| Born | Floyd Joy Sinclair February 24, 1977 |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Pretty Boy Floyd Money Mayweather |
| Statistics | |
| Weight(s) | 147 lb (67 kg; 10.5 st) |
| Height | 5 ft 7.7 in (1.72 m) |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 39 |
| Wins | 39 |
| Wins by KO | 25 |
| Losses | 0 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
| Olympic medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Representing  United States
| ||
| Men's boxing | ||
 |
1996 Atlanta | Featherweight |
Floyd "Money" Mayweather, Jr. (born Floyd Joy Sinclair on February 24 1977), is a professional American boxer who has a record of 39-0 (25 KOs or TKOs). He is the son of Floyd Mayweather Sr., a former welterweight boxing contender.
Since July 18, 2005, he has been rated by The Ring magazine as the number-one pound for pound boxer in the world. [1] Mayweather has won six world boxing championships in five different weight classes; he is the current WBC welterweight champion. He was named Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year in 1998 and 2007. In his last bout, he defeated Ricky Hatton at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas in a highly anticipated match on December 8 2007, by way of a 10th round TKO. Mayweather is currently working on a rematch with Oscar De La Hoya to take place September 20, 2008.
Mayweather was also well known for competing on the fifth season of Dancing with the Stars where he was the fourth celebrity eliminated from the competition.[2]
Background
Floyd Mayweather was born Floyd Joy Sinclair in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with his mother's last name.[3] His last name would change to Mayweather shortly thereafter. 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. Floyd attended Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills High School.
Amateur career
Mayweather had a successful amateur career of 84-6.[4] He won national Golden Gloves championships in 1993 (at 106 lb), 1994 (at 114 lb), and 1996 (at 125 lb).[5] 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.[6] 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.[7]
At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Mayweather won a bronze medal by reaching the finals of the featherweight (57 kg)[8] 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. [9]
Professional career
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, many analysts and fans feel that Mayweather should have lost the fight,[10] 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.[11] 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).
Junior 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."[12] 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 while 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 [13]. 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.[14] Compubox had Mayweather outlanding Gatti by a total of 168 to 41. [1]
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.[15]
Welterweight
On November 19, 2005, Mayweather fought a non-title bout at 147 lb (67 kg) 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.[16] 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. [2]
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.[17] The suspension entails that Roger can train Mayweather Jr. in the gym but cannot work the corner during fights.[18] 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.[19] 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.[20] 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.[21] 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.[22]
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.
Junior Middleweight
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 1.95 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 $25 million for the fight. [23]
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. won the bout by split decision.
Return to Welterweight
Mayweather decided to relinquish his WBC junior middleweight championship [3] and kept his WBC welterweight championship. On July 28, 2007, it was announced that Mayweather would come out of his short retirement to fight light welterweight champion Ricky Hatton which was promoted by Oscar De La Hoya's promotion company Golden Boy Promotions and Floyd Mayweather's "Mayweather Promotions." The bout was labelled "Undefeated" and took 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." [4]
Hatton was very aggressive early and controlled the tempo of the fight. However, it was Mayweather who landed most of the clean punches as Hatton could not hit Mayweather with anything significant, and the official judges scored these early rounds for Floyd. Mayweather soon adjusted to Hatton's style and started having success pot-shotting Hatton with stiff left and right hands, opening a cut over Hatton's right eye in round three. Mayweather closed the show in round ten, starting when he caught Hatton coming in with a left hook that sent him crashing head first against the padding of the corner post. Hatton got to his feet at the count of eight, but when he got up, Mayweather quickly capitalized and took advantage, throwing in a couple of more shots, sending Hatton back down at the same moment that Joe Cortez called a halt to the action and Hatton's corner threw in the towel.
After the fight, Mayweather said that Hatton was one of the toughest fighters he had ever fought, that he just kept coming and coming. Mayweather later announced that he will take a layoff from boxing.[24]
The layoff won't last long however, as Mayweather is currently in the works for a rematch against Oscar De la Hoya in September 2008.
Boxing vs. MMA
This is a topic has been gently danced around for years.
For the most part, MMA types have expressed nothing but respect for boxing, as it is one of the base components of their sport and boasts a rich history.
Boxing have largely responded with disdain. Promoters have referred to MMA as "trash" boxers have disrespected MMA fighters' skills, and hack boxing writers too lazy to learn anything new have attempted to brush off the subject, since it wasn't what they grew up with in 1923!
But telling the truth boxing is a washed up sport. It is a thing of the past. There is only a few fighters out there worth watching right now.
There is no question about popularity of the two sports, tell me when have you ever seen a packed house for pre-cards at a boxing event...never
But things reached have reached a boiling point over the past week. Floyd Mayweather Jr. was quoted as saying "UFC ain’t s--t,. It ain’t but a fad. Anyone can put a tattoo on their head and get in a street fight. We should put Liddell against a good heavyweight, under Mayweather Promotions, and if Chuck wins, then I’ll give him a million dollars out of my own pocket. These are guys who couldn’t make it in boxing."
UFC president Dana White shot back: "He says he wants to pay Chuck Liddell a million dollars to fight with a heavyweight boxer and see if he'll last. How about this? How about we pay Floyd a million dollars to fight MMA and see how long he lasts. Or even better ... I'll give him a million dollars of my own money if he boxes anyone other than Oscar De La Hoya and more than 10 people buy tickets."
There have already been a couple glimpses at what would be considered boxer vs. martial arts style fighting, and neither made boxing look good.
One occurred all the way back at UFC 1 in 1993. Art Jimmerson was a light heavyweight with a solid record of 29-5 when he squared off against Royce Gracie. Gracie needed all of 2:11 to pick Jimmerson apart. From that point on, Jimmerson went 4-13 in his boxing career. Word got around boxing quick to stay away from UFC.
OK, maybe Jimmerson isn't a big enough name to impress you. How about Muhammud Ali, then?
Back in 1976, Ali took on wrestler Antonio Inoki in Tokyo. They went 15 rounds before the fight was ruled a draw. Inoki spent most of the fight on his back in a basic jiu-jitsu defensive posture and repeatedly kicked at Ali's legs. Ali's punching was useless, as he threw just six punches the entire fight. So there you have it. Three decades before MMA stole boxing's thunder and 17 years before Gracie burst onto the scene, the greatest boxer of all-time could do nothing against a professional wrestler who used defensive martial arts tactics that were primitive by the standards of today's MMA.
Maybe Mayweather knew what he was doing, backing off from his trash talk against UFC.
World Wrestling Entertainment
Mayweather appeared at World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)'s No Way Out pay-per-view on February 17, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he was involved in a storyline physical altercation with The Big Show, after Mayweather jumped a security barricade and attacked him with a punching combination, in an attempt to help Rey Mysterio, whom Show threatened to chokeslam.[25] The attack resulted in The Big Show receiving a kayfabe broken nose. The following night on Raw, The Big Show challenged Mayweather to a match, which Mayweather accepted.[26] Mayweather will face Big Show in a wrestling match at WrestleMania XXIV on March 30 2008 at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida.[27] This branching out in to the WWe is just a making hime look like a joke!
Professional boxing record
Notes and references
- ^ The Ring Ratings. 1 May 2006. The Ring. URL accessed 5 May 2006.
- ^ Rocchio, Christopher. "Floyd Mayweather Jr., Karina Smirnoff cut from 'Dancing with the Stars" 17 October 2007. realitytvworld.com URL accessed 19 December 2007.
- ^ Johnson, Chuck. "Mayweather dancing with success in and out of ring." 5 December 2007. USA Today. URL accessed 18 December 2007.
- ^ Boxing-Records: Floyd Mayweather Jr. GFAX. URL accessed 16 April 2006.
- ^ HBO: Boxing - Floyd Mayweather Jr. HBO. URL accessed 7 January 2006.
- ^ Schulberg, Benn. "Floyd Mayweather Jr. Born to be a Pretty Boy." 19 November 2005. The Sweet Science. URL accessed 12 April 2006.
- ^ Coleman, Steve. "The Sweet Science: Floyd Mayweather and Improvised Modalities of Rhythm." 1 December 2003. Sudden Thoughts. URL accessed 22 April 2006.
- ^ Olympic weight classes use kilograms instead of pounds. 57 kg ≈ 125.66 lb
- ^ "Boxing: Judge quits to protest 'incompetent' scoring." 2 August 1996. AP. URL accessed 12 April 2006.
- ^ González, Frank. "Why Bother Fighting the Fights? Just Ask the Judges." 21 April 2002. East Side Boxing. URL accessed 12 April 2006.
- ^ Romppainen, Janne. "Boxing: The Best Of The Year." 17 December 2003. East Side Boxing. URL accessed 25 April 2006.
- ^ "Floyd Mayweather Conference Call Transcript." 16 May 2005. East Side Boxing. URL accessed 23 April 2006.
- ^ Steinberg, Don. "Five key fights: Floyd Mayweather Jr." ESPN.com. URL accessed 27 Novermber 2007.
- ^ Upham, Paul. "The Boxing Experts on Floyd Mayweather Jr." SecondsOut.com. URL accessed 28 January 2006.
- ^ Almeida, Christina. "Jury in Vegas acquits Mayweather of domestic violence charge." 29 July 2005. AP. URL accessed 12 April 2006.
- ^ Rafael, Dan. "Judah, Mayweather to fight in Vegas on April 8." 24 January 2006. ESPN.com. URL accessed 12 April 2006.
- ^ Vester, Mark. "Mayweather Still Champ, Roger Not So Lucky." 13 April 2006. BoxingScene.com. URL accessed 13 April 2006.
- ^ Frauenheim, Norm. "Nevada deals big blow to Mayweather's uncle." 17 April 2006. The Arizona Republic. URL accessed 3 May 2006.
- ^ Rafael, Dan. "Judah and father fined, both lose license for year." 8 May 2006. ESPN.com. URL accessed 10 May 2006.
- ^ Rafael, Dan. "Mayweather turns down $8 million to fight Margarito." 25 April 2006. ESPN.com. URL accessed 10 May 2006.
- ^ Rafael, Dan. "De La Hoya won't fight Mayweather in fall, may retire." 19 June 2006. ESPN.com. URL accessed 19 June 2006.
- ^ Rafael, Dan. "Mayweather, Baldomir to square off with title on line" 14 August 2006. ESPN.com. URL accessed 14 August 2006.
- ^ Burt, Jason. "Other glittering showdowns: Oscar de la Hoya v Floyd Mayweather" 29 May 2007. independent.co.uk. URL accessed 6 March 2008.
- ^ Rozenberg, Sammy. "Mayweather Shocks, Knocks Hatton Out in Ten." 8 December 2007. BoxingScene.com. URL accessed 8 December 2007.
- ^ Difino, Lennie (2008-02-17). "Showtime in Vegas". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
- ^ http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/articles/articles/mayweatherbigshow
- ^ "Preview: Floyd Mayweather vs. Big Show - Big Time, Big 'Money' Showdown". WWE. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
- ^ boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr
See also
- List of boxing triple champions
- List of boxing quadruple champions
- List of boxing quintuple champions
External links
- Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s official site
- Philthy Rich Records official site
- Floyd Mayweather Jr. Fight-by-Fight Career Record
- Floyd Mayweather Jr. Video Interview @ FightFan.com
- Boxing record for Floyd Mayweather Jr. from BoxRec (registration required)
- Exclusive Interview: Floyd Mayweather Jr. by G. Leon, 8 August 2005, Boxingtalk.com.
- Estrangement of Mayweather Jr. and Sr. by Jon Saraceno, 26 June 2005, USA Today.
- Olympic article on Mayweather Jr. by Andy Johnston, 6 July 1996, Augusta Chronicle.
- A new chapter begins for Floyd Mayweather by Jeff Mayweather, 1 November 2005, BraggingRightsCorner.com.
- Can Mayweather become the new De La Hoya? by Brent Matteo Alderson, 1 May 2006, BoxingScene.com.
- Floyd Mayweather Sr. Speaks Out, by David A. Avila, www.thesweetscience.com
- American boxers
- Junior-welterweights
- Welterweights
- Junior-lightweights
- Lightweights
- World boxing champions
- Boxers at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Olympic bronze medalists for the United States
- Olympic boxers of the United States
- Dancing with the Stars (US TV series) participants
- People from Grand Rapids, Michigan
- African American sportspeople
- 1977 births
- Living people