Who Is Floyd Mayweather?

American boxer Floyd Mayweather was born on February 24, 1977, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He won three national Golden Gloves and an Olympic bronze medal before turning professional in 1996. Mayweather claimed his first championship as a super featherweight in 1998, later accumulating titles in four other weight classes while retaining an undefeated record.

Early Years

Widely considered the greatest boxer of his era, Floyd Mayweather Jr. was born Floyd Joy Sinclair on February 24, 1977, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Boxing is in his blood: His father, Floyd Sr., was a welterweight contender, and his uncle Jeff Mayweather is a former IBO super featherweight champion. Another uncle, Roger Mayweather, is a former WBA super featherweight and WBC super lightweight champion.

Floyd Sr. introduced Mayweather to the gym not long after he started walking, holding his young boy in front of speed bags whenever they visited. Soon, Mayweather was throwing punches at anything that came in his view. At the age of 7 he was fitted for his first pair of boxing gloves.

Little Floyd, as he was known, became a staple at his neighborhood gym, which was conveniently located just five doors down from his family's home. He soon took the last name of his father, indicating a desire to follow in his footsteps to boxing success.

His family life was complicated. The elder Mayweather had a violent temper, and drifted in and out of danger as a drug dealer. He was shot in the leg while holding his baby son in 1978, and in 1993 he was sentenced to prison on cocaine trafficking charges. Mayweather's mother, Deborah, also dealt with substance abuse issues.

Amateur Success

Away from the circus of his family, Mayweather found peace and control in the ring. Known as "Pretty Boy" early in his career for his unmarked face, Mayweather, with his fast, precise style, won the national Golden Gloves in 1993, 1994 and 1996.

While he finished 84-6 as an amateur, Mayweather's pre-professional career ended on a bitter note. At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, he lost a controversial decision to Bulgaria's Serafim Todorov and was forced to settle for a bronze medal.

Pro Boxing Career

Mayweather turned professional on October 11, 1996. As a pro, Mayweather continued to win at an astonishing rate. With his father serving as both manager and trainer after his release from prison, the talented boxer won several easy bouts. In 1998, he defeated Genaro Hernandez to capture his first world title, the WBC super featherweight championship.

His career greatly accelerated even more beginning in 2000, when Mayweather embarked on a seven-year stretch that had many fight fans talking about him as one of the sport's all-time greats.

During this period, he moved up in weight class four times, taking home the WBC lightweight title in 2002, the WBC super lightweight title in 2005 and the IBF, IBO, WBC and IBA welterweight titles in 2006. In 2007 he defeated Oscar De La Hoya for the WBC super welterweight crown.

His success garnered increased earnings. In 2010 he was the third highest-paid American athlete, with income of more than $60 million for the year.

The victories and paychecks only fueled Mayweather’s already sturdy ego. In a sport built on bravado, he proved to be one of boxing's most polarizing figures. "My goal has always been to be one of the best fighters who ever lived," Mayweather has said. "My career and legacy are very important to me."

So is his crossover appeal. As his international profile grew, Mayweather brought his star power to television.

In the buildup to his much-anticipated 2007 match with De La Hoya, Mayweather took center stage in the four-part HBO documentary 24/7, which led to new pay-per-view and live-gate records. Later that year he appeared as a contestant on ABC Television's Dancing with the Stars.

Retirement and Comeback

Mayweather stunned the sports world when he announced his retirement after defeating Ricky Hatton in late 2007. He returned in September 2009 and won a bout against Juan Manuel Marquez by unanimous decision, for a purse of nearly $60 million. Eight months later, he won a 12-round unanimous decision over Shane Mosley in Las Vegas to up his professional record to 41-0.

In May 2013, Mayweather made headlines when he won a 12-round bout against Robert Guerrero in a unanimous decision at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, taking the WBC welterweight title. The fight bumped Mayweather's record to an undefeated 44-0 (with 26 KOs).

Bouts vs. Pacquiao and McGregor

Following three more successful bouts, Mayweather set the boxing world abuzz by agreeing to fight eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 2, 2015. Displaying his usual airtight defense in the "Fight of the Century," Mayweather held off his opponent to win a unanimous decision and retain his perfect record.

In 2017, Mayweather signed on for a bout with brash UFC champion Conor McGregor, who had boxed as an amateur before turning to mixed martial arts. As part of the negotiations, Mayweather agreed to fight with 8 ounce gloves, a compromise between the usual 10 ounce gloves used for standard junior middleweight fights and the 4 ounce mitts of the UFC.

Following months of hype, the fight took place on August 26, 2017, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Well past his athletic prime at age 40, Mayweather nevertheless outclassed his younger, stronger and less experienced opponent, pummeling McGregor with a flurry of punches in the 10th round before being declared the winner via TKO. His record up to 50-0, Mayweather announced that he was retiring once again.

His competitive juices still flowing, Mayweather fought Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa in an exhibition at the close of 2018. In November 2019, he announced via Instagram that he was "coming out of retirement in 2020."

Personal

The father of four children (two sons and two daughters), Mayweather resides in Las Vegas.

Mayweather's sometimes-overbearing family dynamics have occasionally intruded into his work life. In 2000, Mayweather fired his father as manager. Their differences only became more intense, and not long after, Mayweather fired his father as trainer too, and replaced him with his uncle Roger Mayweather.

Outside the ring, Mayweather has fought different kinds of battles. In late December 2011, a Las Vegas judge sentenced him to 90 days in jail after he pleaded guilty to a domestic violence charge and no contest to two harassment charges. Mayweather has been arrested several times since 2002 in battery and violence cases in Las Vegas and in his hometown of Grand Rapids.

Controversies

Domestic violence and battery convictions

In 2002, Mayweather was charged with two counts of domestic violence and one count of misdemeanor battery. He received a six-month suspended sentence and two days of house arrest and was ordered to perform 48 hours of community service.

In 2004, Mayweather was given a one-year suspended jail sentence, ordered to undergo counseling for "impulse control" and pay a $1,000 fine (or perform 100 hours of community service) after being convicted of two counts of misdemeanor battery against two women.

In 2005, Mayweather pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor battery charge after hitting and kicking a bouncer, receiving a 90-day suspended jail sentence.

On September 9, 2010, it was reported that Mayweather was being sought by police for questioning after his former girlfriend, Josie Harris, filed a domestic battery report against him. Harris accused Mayweather of battery in the past, but those charges were dropped in July 2005 after Harris testified that she had lied and that Mayweather had not battered her. Mayweather was taken into custody September 10, 2010, but was released after posting $3,000 bail. Mayweather was initially charged with felony theft (stemming from the disappearance of Harris's mobile phone); on September 16 two felony coercion charges, one felony robbery charge, one misdemeanor domestic-battery charge and three misdemeanor harassment charges were added.

On December 21, 2011, a judge sentenced Mayweather to serve 90 days in the county jail for battery upon Harris in September 2010. Mayweather reached a deal with prosecutors in which he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery in exchange for prosecutors dropping the felony battery charge. Mayweather also pleaded no contest to two counts of misdemeanor harassment, stemming from threats to his children. In addition to the 90-day sentence, Mayweather was ordered to complete 100 hours of community service, a 12-month domestic-violence program and to pay a fine of $2,500. On June 1, Mayweather began serving his county jail sentence, and was released on August 3, 2012.

Sued for defamation

In May 2015, following his bout against Pacquiao, Josie Harris sued Mayweather for $20 million for defamation, claiming that Mayweather lied during an interview with Katie Couric in April. During that interview, he called her a drug abuser while discussing the 2010 domestic-violence incident which ended up with Mayweather going to jail for two months. The case was struck out prior to being heard, by reason of her death in 2020.

2018 SEC settlement

In November 2018, together with DJ Khaled, Mayweather agreed to a total settlement of $750,000 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for failing to disclose payments accepted from issuers of initial coin offerings, including a personal $100,000 promotional payment from beleaguered cryptocurrency firm Centra Tech Inc., whose co-founders were indicted for fraud in May 2018. According to the SEC, "they are its first cases involving charges for violating rules on touting investments in so-called initial coin offerings, or ICOs." As part of the settlement, Mayweather undertook to forgo any endorsement or promotional agreement with a securities participant for three years.

2022 EthereumMax lawsuit

In January 2022, in a class-action lawsuit filed against the cryptocurrency company EthereumMax that alleged the company is a pump and dump scheme, Mayweather was named as a defendant along with media personality Kim Kardashian, former NBA player Paul Pierce, and other celebrities for promoting the EthereumMax token on their social media accounts. In December 2022, Central California U.S. District Court Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald dismissed the lawsuit on the basis that the claims were insufficiently supported given heightened pleading standards for fraud.

Exhibition bouts

Mayweather vs. Nasukawa

In September 2018, during the electronic music festival Ultra Japan, both Mayweather and Pacquiao posted videos of encounters at the festival, which implicated the possibility of a rematch. It is unknown if any formal negotiations occurred.

On September 19, 2018, Mayweather stated in an interview that, despite references to "this year" in the videos, he planned to hold a fight in Japan before any possible rematch with Pacquiao. On October 18, 2018, Pacquiao told the Daily Mirror that a rumoured rematch with Mayweather would occur in 2019, as Mayweather was planning to fight an unnamed opponent on December 31, 2018. On November 5, 2018, the Japanese MMA promotion Rizin Fighting Federation announced that Mayweather would face undefeated kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa at Rizin 14 on December 31, 2018, under unspecified rules. Of the bout, Mayweather stated in a press conference that "it wasn't easy to make this happen, but we told the people anything is possible, so now we're here and we wanna make sure that we give the people in Tokyo what they wanna see — blood, sweat and tears."

However, two days later, Mayweather denied that he would be fighting Nasukawa. He explained that he had been booked for a non-televised exhibition for "a small group of wealthy spectators" during the event, but that he was caught off-guard by the announcement that he would face Nasukawa—claiming that he was unaware of the fighter until the press conference, and stating that "for the sake of the several fans and attendees that flew in from all parts of the world to attend this past press conference, I was hesitant to create a huge disturbance by combating what was being said and for that I am truly sorry."

On November 16, 2018, Mayweather confirmed that a three-round exhibition boxing match against Nasukawa would indeed happen after the initial misunderstanding had been resolved.

The fight took place at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan on December 31 and ended on a TKO in the first round, when Nasukawa's corner waved off the fight after he had been knocked down three times. After the fight, Mayweather clarified that he is still retired and only did the fight to entertain fans. The match and its ending, however, were controversial, and drew condemnation and accusations of match-fixing. Mayweather reportedly earned $9 million for the fight.

Mayweather vs. Paul

On December 6, 2020, it was announced that Mayweather would face internet personality Logan Paul in an exhibition bout on February 20, 2021. The fight was postponed, and took place on June 6, 2021 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. On May 6, 2021, Mayweather and Paul met for the first time at a press conference at Hard Rock Stadium, where the latter's brother, Jake Paul, became involved in an angry brawl with Mayweather when he removed Mayweather's hat from his head. A visibly irate Mayweather was captured on video saying, "I'll kill you motherfucker! Are you crazy? I'll fuck you up, motherfucker. I don't play motherfucking games. I'll fuck you up."

The bout consisted of constant clinching initiated by Paul and went the full distance to the sound of boos from the crowd, with no winner being announced. Mayweather had started tentatively and defensively, reluctant to throw often and avoiding most of Paul's shots. Toward the end of the first round, Paul unleashed a wild flurry, but most of his punches were blocked by Mayweather's guard. The second round was similar to the first, with Mayweather content with the slow pace of the fight. He finally turned up the offense in the third, opening up with some clean left hooks that rocked Paul's head back, as well as mixing in his trademark pull counter with the right hand. From the fourth round onward, Paul was visibly fatigued and took every opportunity to utilize his weight advantage by tying the smaller Mayweather up in the clinch after every exchange. Despite Paul's constant attempts at neutering Mayweather's offense, the latter continued to dictate the pace of the fight and land the cleaner, more effective punches. Toward the end of the eighth and final round, Paul showboated when it became clear that he had done enough to avoid being stopped as most had predicted would be the case, and that he would survive to hear the final bell. Mayweather's superior boxing was reflected by the CompuBox punch stats, with Mayweather having landed 43 punches of 107 thrown (40.2%), compared to Paul's 28 landed of 217 thrown (12.9%).

In his post-fight interview, Mayweather praised his opponent, saying "He's better than I thought he was... he's a tough, rough competitor." Paul appeared to harbor some doubt about how seriously Mayweather had taken the fight, saying "I'm going to go home thinking, 'Did Floyd let me survive?'" When asked about the prospect of making a return to professional boxing, Mayweather replied, "I'm not coming back to the sport of boxing, absolutely not." He did not completely rule out participating in exhibition bouts in the future, saying "As far as me doing another exhibition, probably not".

Mayweather vs. Moore

On May 21, 2022 Mayweather fought an eight round exhibition boxing bout with one of his former sparring partners, Don Moore, in Abu Dhabi. Mayweather was in full control of the fight including scoring a knockdown to Moore with a punch to the body in the eighth round. Moore survived the knockdown and would go the full distance, there was no scoring and it ended without an official verdict.

Mayweather vs. Asakura

On June 13, 2022 Mayweather announced he would be returning for another exhibition bout. The fight would be at the Rizin event scheduled on September 25, 2022 at the Saitama Super Arena. His opponent was confirmed to be Japanese mixed martial artist and YouTuber, Mikuru Asakura. Mayweather won by TKO in the 2nd round.

Mayweather vs. Deji

On September 25, 2022 Mayweather announced he would be facing YouTuber Deji Olatunji, the younger brother of KSI. The fight being scheduled for November 13, 2022 at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai. Mayweather defeated Deji via technical knockout in the 6th round.

Mayweather vs. Chalmers

In January 2023, it was announced that Mayweather would be fighting another exhibition bout against former Bellator MMA fighter and television personality, Aaron Chalmers, after his original opponent for the fight, ONE Championship Muay Thai fighter Liam Harrison, pulled out due to a knee injury. The bout took place on February 25, 2023 at The O2 Arena in London, England, marking it as Mayweather's first exhibition bout in the United Kingdom. The bout went the full 8 rounds, there was no scoring and it ended without an official verdict.

Mayweather vs. Gotti III

On April 26, 2023, it was announced that Mayweather would be facing professional mixed martial artist and boxer John Gotti III – the grandson and son of mafiosi John Gotti and John A. Gotti, respectively – in an exhibition boxing match on June 11, 2023. The bout – held at the FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida – was stopped by referee Kenny Bayless in the sixth round, prompting a ring invasion by members of each boxer's teams. A number of fights subsequently broke out in the crowd and backstage.

Professional boxing record

Exhibition boxing record