When Floyd Mayweather defeated Andre Berto by unanimous decision in Sept. 2015, he declared it was the final fight of his storied career.
Mayweather realized there was nothing else to prove. He’s undefeated in 49 fights, won a bronze medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics, captured his first world title after 18 fights and has participated in the three highest-drawing bouts in this generation.
Like all athletes, the lure of green got “Money” back inside the squared circle, returning from a nearly two-year haitus to face UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor. The fight is expected to shatter every financial boxing record.
In the buildup to the fight, Mayweather has continuously stated this will be his last fight. If this is truly the end, it will go down as one of the greatest careers in the history of the sport.
Let’s take a look back at the biggest fights in the career of Floyd Mayweather Jr.
1. Mayweather vs Hernandez
Date: Oct. 3, 1998
No one thought Mayweather was ready for someone of Genardo Hernandez’s caliber at this stage of his young career. At the time, Hernandez was the No.1 ranked super featherweight in the world.
Mayweather had only 18 career fights and was taking a huge step up in competition. But as he has done his entire career, Mayweather defied logic (and critics), and battered Hernandez for eight rounds. Hernandez’s corner threw in the towel and Mayweather won his first world title.
The fight indicated the start of something special
2. Mayweather vs De La Hoya
Date: May 5, 2007
This was the fight Mayweather had been looking for, as he wanted to prove he was the biggest name in boxing. But to get there, he had to get through “The Golden Boy,” Oscar De La Hoya.
There was an issue: Mayweather was promoted by Top Rank, and chairman Bob Arum thought Mayweather wasn’t a big enough name to warrant such a fight. So in 2006, Mayweather paid $750,000 to get out of his contract and bet on himself.
A little more than a year later, he got the fight he longed for: This fight is where “Pretty Boy” Floyd died and “Money” Mayweather was born. He prodded De La Hoya during their multi-city world tour and on HBO’s “24-7.”
Mayweather fought at 147 for the first time, and showed the world he belonged in the same ring as De La Hoya, winning by split decision.
The fight set a then-PPV record 2.4 million buys. Mayweather also made a career-high $25 million — staggering for the time, but is now considered peanuts.
3. Mayweather vs Cotto
Date: May 5, 2012
This fight happened under unique circumstances.
Mayweather was supposed to head to prison on domestic battery charges but was granted permission to fight Cotto in a fight at 154 pounds.
How would Mayweather handle the chaos surrounding his pending prison sentence?
He did what he always does, blocked it out the controversy and pulled away in the championship rounds to win a tougher fight than fans expected by unanimous decision.
The fight was a huge success at the box office, raking in 1.5 million PPV buys and generating $94 million pay-per-view revenue, second behind his fight against De La Hoya. Mayweather earned a new a career-high $32 million.
4. Mayweather vs Canelo
Date: Sept. 13, 2014
At age 36 and a highly anticipated fight against Manny Pacquiao looking less and less likely by the year, Mayweather was running out of top boxers to face.
Laying in the weeds was a 23-year-old Alvarez, who was being groomed to supplant Mayweather as the next big attraction in the sport.
Everything appeared to be in place for a surprise Alvarez victory — the bout even took place with an 152-pound catchweight.
Mayweather wasn’t ready to pass the torch just yet, making his win look easy, making Alvarez miss at will while barely getting touched to win a lopsided decision (disregard the absurd 114-114 from CJ Ross who should never judge again).
The fight set the second highest PPV buyrate at 2.2 million and Mayweather set another purse record, banking $41.5 million.
5. Mayweather vs Pacquiao
Date: May 2, 2015
After six years of on-and-off negotiations, the fight the world was waiting for would finally happen.
The hype was at a fever pitch, expectations were ran high — and then the fight happened.
Mayweather made easy work of Pacquiao, winning by unanimous decision, proving beyond the shadow of a doubt he is the best boxer of this generation.
The fight broke every record imaginable. The live gate was $72 million and a record 4.6 million buys on PPV generating over $500 million with Mayweather making between $260-$300 million.
