Floyd Mayweather Jr.

February 24, 1977

Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States

Mayweather Jr. began boxing at the age of seven. He won the national Golden Gloves in 1993, 1994, and 1996 but ended his amateur career on a sour note at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, where he lost a controversial decision to Serafim Todorov of Bulgaria in the semifinals and had to settle for a bronze medal in the featherweight division. He turned pro on October 11, 1996, scoring a second-round knockout of American Roberto Apodaca. Also, in October 1996 at the age of 19, Mayweather won 17 professional fights before taking the WBC super featherweight world title from Genaro Hernandez in 1998. Hernandez, who at the time had an admirable record of 38 fights, one draw, and one defeat, was worn down by the newcomer's pace and strength. After being knocked down Hernandez withdrew in the eighth round. Mayweather's first of eight defenses of the title came in December 1998, when he stopped Angel Manfredy in a technical knockout (TKO) in the second round. Between then and March 2000 he defended the title a further four times, using his orthodox defensive posture and sharp jab to wear down opponents. By then still unbeaten Mayweather had been noted as one of the most promising fighters of his generation. Mayweather fought the eighth and final defense of his title on November 10, 2001, against Jesus Chavez, an experienced fighter then ranked number one in the world. Chavez proved to be a tough opponent, but the fight was stopped by his corner in the ninth round; Mayweather had led the points in all of them. Not long after the fight Mayweather moved up from the super featherweight division and contested the WBC Lightweight (135 pounds) title in April 2002 against defending champion Jose Luis Castillo. Beating Castillo was not easy - Mayweather had an injured shoulder - but he took the title on points over 12 rounds and defended it three times. The third time, against Philip N'dou in November 2003, ranks as one of his most brilliant performances. The victory set the scene for another change of division to super lightweight in 2004. He took the WBC super lightweight title from Arturo Gatti on June 25, 2005, in a contest that was also his first lucrative pay-per-view experience. With a strong claim to be the best boxer in the world pound-for-pound in the first decade of the twenty-first century, Mayweather fought and beat Sharmba Mitchell on November 19, 2005, to make his welterweight debut at 147 pounds. In his second welterweight match, Mayweather snagged his fourth championship, taking the IBF welterweight title from Zab Judah after a 12-round bout in April 2006. At the beginning of 2007, he was already widely considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, remaining undefeated in 38 professional bouts (24 by knockout). However, it was not until he defeated fellow American Oscar De La Hoya for the WBC super welterweight (junior middleweight) title that Mayweather gained mainstream recognition. More than the fight itself, it was the four-part documentary 24/7, which was broadcast on HBO cable television during the buildup to the fight, that boosted Mayweather's profile. He emerged as a riveting character with an ego as large as his talent and a proclivity for being alternatively obnoxious and charming. Mayweather's fight against De La Hoya was an enormous financial success, smashing existing pay-per-view and live-gate records. He returned to the ring in December 2007 and scored a 10th-round knockout against Britain's previously undefeated Ricky Hatton in Las Vegas. In June 2008, just months before a scheduled rematch with De La Hoya, Mayweather announced his retirement from boxing. While most observers assumed that the "retirement" would be temporary, some 18 months passed between Mayweather's fight with Hatton and his return to the ring in September 2009 against Juan Manuel Márquez, a natural lightweight and crowd favorite who moved up two divisions to accept the bout. Although Márquez showed great fortitude, the judges awarded Mayweather a unanimous decision after 12 rounds. Much excitement and more than a little gamesmanship attended the buildup to Mayweather's next scheduled fight, against Filipino sensation Manny Pacquiao, whom Mayweather's father accused of using performance-enhancing drugs, leading to prolonged wrangling over the nature of the blood testing that would precede the fight. With the Pacquiao fight stalled, Mayweather won a unanimous decision over three-time welterweight champion Shane Mosley in a May 2010 nontitle bout. Mayweather next fought Victor Ortiz in September 2011, recapturing the WBC welterweight title - which he had surrendered at his retirement - after he controversially (though legally) knocked Ortiz out when Ortiz approached him with his guard down to apologize for an earlier head butt. In December 2011 Mayweather - who had received suspended sentences for two earlier instances of domestic violence - was sentenced to 90 days in jail and 100 hours of community service after pleading guilty to reduced domestic violence battery and harassment charges that stemmed from a September 2010 incident in which Mayweather attacked his former girlfriend in front of two of their children. Before he entered prison, he fought Miguel Cotto in May 2012, winning a unanimous decision to capture the World Boxing Association (WBA) light middleweight title. Mayweather began his prison sentence in June 2012 and was released for good behavior after serving two months. Mayweather's next bout was a unanimous decision over Robert Guerrero in May 2013. His following two fights showed possible chinks in the great fighter's armor: Mayweather won majority decisions (wherein one of the three judges deemed the bout a draw) against Mexico's Saul Alvarez in September 2013 and Argentina's Marcos Maidana in May 2014, which were only the second and third times of his career that he did not win a fight by knockout, unanimous decision, or retirement of his opponent. After years of rumors and on-and-off negotiations, Mayweather and Pacquiao agreed to fight on May 2, 2015. Mayweather entered the bout as the clear favorite, and he largely dictated the pace on his way to a victory by unanimous decision. On August 26, 2017, Mayweather fought mixed martial arts champion Conor McGregor. The bout produced a huge financial windfall for both fighters - Mayweather was guaranteed at least a $100 million purse for appearing - but was widely derided as a publicity stunt by boxing observers, who were validated when Mayweather easily defeated a fighter who had never before participated in a pure boxing match with a 10th-round technical knockout. Following the bout, Mayweather announced his retirement from boxing with a 50–0 career record.

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Floyd Mayweather Jr.

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2055 Rosewood Ave SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506, United States

Mayweather attended Ottawa Hills High School, of which he would later drop out to focus on boxing.

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