Floyd Mayweather Jr. – The Villain Who Never Lost

Emmanuel Wonder

September 24, 2015

After a professional career that spanned 19 years and some of the biggest paydays of all time, Floyd Mayweather Jr. retired with a win over Andre Berto, finishing with a 49-0 record.

Whether he actually stays retired is anyone’s guess. He announced his first retirement after knocking out Ricky Hatton in 2007, only to come back almost two years later. Mayweather isn’t quite the same fighter now that he was then – while still incredibly skilled and athletic, he has slowed down with age. But this is a fighter who nicknamed himself “Money,” one who enjoys showing off his fortune and spending it on the finer things in life, including cars, houses, and million dollar sports bets. He may change his tune on retirement when he realizes that fighting is the only way he is going to earn eight-figure paychecks.

The immense amount of money he earned is the most significant achievement of Mayweather’s career, especially considering his style was never one that excited the masses. Most boxing fans want to see knockouts and an overall attacking style of boxing, but here was a fighter who earned over $200 million for one fight while prioritizing defense and scoring points. The amount of people that tuned in, many of them doing so in hopes of seeing Mayweather fall, is a testament to his ability to market himself. He positioned himself as the sport’s biggest villain, remained undefeated, full of himself champion who did what he wanted and made no apologies for it.

Even though he played up aspects of his personality to make money, incidents from his personal life give the impression that the real Floyd Mayweather was far worse than the persona he crafted in the ring. Accusations of violence against women, including women who had children with Mayweather, have followed the boxer since 2001. He has been accused of slamming a car door into a women’s head and punching her several times, assaulting two women at a nightclub and punching Josie Harris, the mother of three of his children, in the car before dragging her out of it by her hair. Several years later he beat Harris in front of their two children, and even threatened to beat the children as well if they called the police. Despite the fact that he pled guilty, Mayweather has since denied any wrongdoing in interviews.

Throughout his career Mayweather has taken the most pride in his money and his spotless record, one reason he considers himself the greatest boxer of all time. Ironically, the undefeated record he fought so hard to maintain may not mean much for his place in history. The notion of the greatest boxer of all time is highly subjective, but most of the popular picks for that title have losses on their records.

Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Louis and Julio Cesar Chavez all tasted defeat multiple times.  Rocky Marciano, who also sports a 49-0 record, is proof that being undefeated doesn’t make you the greatest in everyone’s eyes. Though Marciano is considered an all-time great, he has never been the common choice when the subject of greatest boxer or even the greatest heavyweight ever is discussed.

Mayweather’s safety-first style serves as a double-edged sword when looking back at his legacy. For all his defensive acumen and accurate punching, his goal was always to get ahead on the scorecards and maintain his lead without taking punishment. He used every trick in the book to do that, from clinching whenever his opponent got too close to showboating just enough to keep the judges on his side. It worked every time, but it also sucked the air out many a buildings on the world’s biggest stage. Fans want to see how great fighters respond to adversity and Mayweather rarely had to just that.

The last two fights of Mayweather’s career were the perfect encapsulation of his story, both in and out of the ring. After years of failed negotiations, he finally fought Manny Pacquiao in the fight everyone wanted to see. Leading up to the event the press asked him about his violence towards women and he dodged the questions as usual. The fight itself made both men a ridiculous amount of money due to its record-setting number of pay-per-view purchases but the fight itself was far from entertaining. The supposed “Fight of the Century” was a dud, as Mayweather coasted to a decision and people hated it.

His next fight, the grand finale to his storied career, was his lowest-selling in almost a decade. It was the last fight on his Showtime contract and it felt like an afterthought. Like so many of his fights his career ended with an unblemished record, but without the excitement befitting one of the greatest boxers of all time.