Floyd Mayweather Jr is widely considered one of the greatest boxers of all time and has the resume to back that claim up, as the Michigan native has worked tirelessly to perfect his craft and keep his perfect record of 50-0 unblemished throughout his career. Though he is boxing nowadays just for the money, against opponents with name value as opposed to building a legacy of career boxers, what he has accomplished over the past few decades may never be seen again.
Every fight fan remembers the biggest moments of their favourite fighter’s career. While Mayweather Jr has a long list of wins under his belt, there are a few that stand out above the rest. Here are the 10 best wins of Floyd “Money” Mayweather’s career – ranked.
Besides having an all-time series of fights against Manny Pacquiao, Mexican great Juan Manuel Marquez battled against some of the best boxers of his generation, including Mayweather Jr. Their meeting came right in the middle of “Money” Mayweather Jr’s obliteration of all challengers. Coming off of an extended hiatus, Mayweather Jr’s return against a dangerous opponent sparked large viewership numbers. Marquez had limited success against his adversary. He tried to stick to his game plan, but after frustration set in, the Mexican fighter tried the different approach of throwing caution to the wind. This played beautifully into Mayweather Jr’s counter-punching that enabled him to win by a large disparity and reminded the competition that he was still king.
While the most memorable moment of the Mayweather Jr and Victor Ortiz fight was the illegal headbutt by the latter, this fight was instrumental in proving that age is just a number for the pound-for-pound king. During this established point in his career, Mayweather Jr, 34, was a master at cultivating fans to tune into his fights in hope of his demise. Regardless of his age, Mayweather Jr looked technically sound and was asserting his will routinely. He looked a step or two ahead of his younger counterpart. By frustrating the young Mexican boxer purely out of execution of a game plan, Ortiz lashed out with a cheap shot. The younger Ortiz was mighty and strong, but let his emotions get the better of him. In the midst of the chaos, Mayweather Jr capitalised on the moment by knocking out an apologetic and unprotected Ortiz to remain champion.
At the time, Shane Mosley was the number three ranked pound-for-pound fighter on the planet and had a tough test in front of him against Mayweather Jr. Mosley had several big-time wins on his record, lost to a few elite fighters as well, but really looked sharp early on versus Mayweather Jr. In an extremely rare circumstance, Mayweather Jr’s button was severely pinged by Mosley in the second round to buckle the undefeated champion and put him on stilts. However, what makes Floyd so special is his ability to stay composed under duress. Mayweather Jr stayed on the course to win the rest of the fight by a large margin.
After another round of failed negotiations with the great Manny Pacquiao, Team Money Mayweather turned their attention to a different opponent, a former world champion Miguel Cotto. Cotto faced and beat some of the sport’s most elite boxers, and he would’ve loved to have nothing more than to tally a “1” in Mayweather Jr’s career loss column. Cotto came out with a pressuring offensive style to counter the Michigan native’s elusiveness. Mayweather Jr responded by mixing up light and heavy shots that landed around the guard of Cotto to ultimately turn the tables of the fight in the later rounds. Though the fight went all 12 rounds, Mayweather Jr nearly finished Cotto, but the tough Rhode Island native respectably hung on. It was another dominant performance for “Money” Mayweather Jr.
One of the biggest wins of Mayweather Jr’s career came when he took on Zab Judah for the IBF and IBO welterweight championship belts. However, during the fight, Judah, like a handful of Mayweather Jr’s opponents, tried to bully the more talented boxer with unnecessary – and sometimes illegal – physicality. Floyd refused to be big brothered by Judah, and responded with even more swiftness and skill. When Judah could not outbox Mayweather Jr, he turned to foul play. In the 10th round with Mayweather Jr up on the scorecards, Judah landed a blatant low blow followed by a punch to the back of Floyd’s head. This resulted in Roger Mayweather rushing into the ring to confront Judah and to protect his fighter. A scrum broke out, but the tension would eventually subside, and Mayweather Jr would go on to win the fight.
