floyd mayweather

Ricky Hatton made a brave stand in his challenge for the World Boxing Council (WBC) and Ring magazine welterweight championships this morning at the MGM Grand Garden Arena but the disparity in class became blatantly apparent and the supreme ring intelligence of Floyd Mayweather, simply and brutally, was too much to overcome.

In the 10th round, after Hatton had been subjected to a painfully frustrating night's work, Mayweather landed a left hook that knocked Hatton to the floor. He rose, groggily, but Mayweather's follow-up assault forced referee Joe Cortez to intervene 35 seconds into the round, just as Hatton fell to the canvas again.

It was a sad end to an electrifying, energising week in which an estimated 20,000-plus travelling supporters from Britain took over the famous Las Vegas trip, convinced that their man could triumph over the 30-year-old Las Vegas resident, regarded as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world. But he has not acquired this reputation for nothing and conquering Mayweather proved far beyond the reach of the Mancunian, who allowed the highly charged atmosphere to get the better of him. He was not "the bull in a china shop" that Mayweather had predicted, not immediately in any case, but his tactics were flawed, playing into the American's capable hands.

From early in the fight, he got picked off by Mayweather's precise and damaging punches and his aggression and smothering effort was largely ineffective after the first couple of rounds. Hatton did enjoy some success, such as the left hook he landed on Mayweather's chin in the opening round, which staggered the American, but such blows were sporadic and, by the time of the stoppage, Mayweather was ahead on the judges' scorecards by margins of 89-81 twice and 88-82, reflecting the champion's clear superiority.

Related Links
Hatton v Mayweather: Parent power
Hattonmania hits Vegas as fans pour in
Multimedia
Pictures: Ricky Hatton in Las Vegas
Round-by-round commentary
"He was better and more clever on the inside than I thought he was, especially with the way he used his elbows, forearms and his shoulders," Hatton said. "I feel all right and I felt really big and strong in the fight but I left myself open. I felt all right until he got me with the cut [in the third round]. I thought I was doing well and was in the fight but I didn't stick to my gameplan. I don't think he's the hardest puncher but he was more clever. Sorry everybody but I'll be back, don't worry."

Hatton did not need to apologise, for the unchallengeable truth is that he encountered a better man, a boxer who has won 39 successive bouts against the likes of Oscar De La Hoya, Jose Luis Castillo and Diego Corrales, stopping 25. David Beckham and Tom Jones, who sang the national anthem, led a host of stars at ringside, including Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Tiger Woods, Lennox Lewis, Sugar Ray Leonard and Will Farrell, but the undisputed star of the show was Mayweather.

From the moment he caught Hatton with a left hook as he came in early in the opening round, it was clear that he had Hatton's measure. The Mancunian did respond with that left hook of his own and he moved forward constantly, cutting off the ring in an attempt to corner Mayweather and wade into him up close where he thought that he would be able to unload on the champion's head and torso. But Mayweather was too good on the inside, too, blocking the majority of Hatton's blows and landing damaging punches of his own.

There had been much discussion about the state of Mayweather's hands but he landed a hard right hand in the second round that stopped Hatton in his tracks. He also inflicted a cut over Hatton's right eye in the third and Hatton's cutsman, Mick Williamson, did well to staunch the flow of blood between rounds.

Mayweather took a breather in the fifth round, which Hatton won, but even then the challenger did not enjoy the kind of success up close that he had assumed he would, if he was able to work his way inside. Then, controversially, in the sixth the referee deducted a point from Hatton's total, apparently for aiming a rabbit punch at the back of Mayweather's head but it was Mayweather who had turned his back on his foe and the sanction seemed harsh.

It clearly got to Hatton, who demonstrated his disgust with the decision by turning around himself and presenting his backside to Mayweather in a disdainful riposte. Crucially, he lost his cool and Mayweather cranked up his performance to another level, attacking Hatton's body and hurting him with several shots around his sides. "I saw that Juan Urango had hurt him to the body, so I knew what to do," a largely unmarked Mayweather said afterwards.

Devastatingly, he opened up on Hatton with impunity in the eighth round, causing the challenger's legs to buckle with a big right cross to the chin and punishing him further with hard combinations towards the end of the round. Hatton did well just to stay on his feet. But he was sickened some more in the ninth as Mayweather continued to land hard and fast with both hands and the finish was clinical. With Hatton leaving himself wide open to be countered as he waded in, Mayweather slipped to the side and threw a picture-perfect left hook at the start of the 10th, the way that Sugar Ray Robinson threw his to knock out Gene Fullmer to regain the world middleweight title 50 years ago.

The punch caught Hatton on the point of his jaw and he went down on his back, rising unsteadily as Cortez completed the mandatory eight-count. Ruthlessly, Mayweather moved in for the finish and he landed two left hooks and a right hand to the chin, missing with a left as the referee waved it over while Hatton teetered over and landed on his back again from the delayed effects of Mayweather's final onslaught.

Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Floyd Mayweather Jr)
Jump to: navigation, search
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Statistics
Real name Floyd Joy Mayweather
Nickname(s) Pretty Boy
Money May
Rated at Welterweight
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Reach 72 in (183 cm)
Nationality American
Birth date February 24, 1977 (1977-02-24) (age 30)
Birth place Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
Stance Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights 39
Wins 39
Wins by KO 25
Losses 0
Draws 0
No contests 0
Olympic medal record
Competitor for United States
Men's boxing
Bronze 1996 Atlanta Featherweight

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (born February 24, 1977 in Grand Rapids, Michigan) is a professional boxer who is undefeated with a record of 39-0 (25 KOs).

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, and he is the WBC welterweight champion. He most recently defeated Ricky Hatton on December 8, 2007, in a 10th round KO.

Contents
1 Background
2 Amateur career
3 Professional career
3.1 Super Featherweight
3.2 Lightweight
3.3 Light Welterweight
3.4 Welterweight
3.5 Light Middleweight/Superfight against Oscar De La Hoya
3.6 Return to Welterweight
4 Professional boxing record
5 Notes and references
6 External links



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.[2] He won national Golden Gloves championships in 1993 (at 106 lb), 1994 (at 112 lb), and 1996 (at 125 lb).[3] 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.[4] 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.[5]

At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Mayweather won a bronze medal by reaching the finals of the featherweight (57 kg)[6] 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. [7]


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).[8] 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.[9] 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.[10] 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. [1]

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.[11] 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[12] 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.[13]


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,[14] 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.[15] 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."[16] 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 [17]. 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.[18] Compubox had Mayweather outlanding Gatti by a total of 168 to 41. [2]

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.[19]


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.[20] 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. [3]

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.[21] The suspension entails that Roger can train Mayweather Jr. in the gym but cannot work the corner during fights.[22] 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.[23] 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.[24] 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.[25] 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.[26]

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
This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2007)

See also: De La Hoya-Mayweather
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. 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.[27].


Return to Welterweight

Press Conference in NYC for the forthcoming fightMayweather decided to relinquish his WBC junior middleweight championship [4] 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 labeled "Undefeated" and took place on December 8, 2007, at the MGM Grand Garden