Floyd Mayweather Jr.
"Floyd Mayweather" redirects here. For his father,
see Floyd Mayweather Sr.
Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. (born Floyd Joy Sinclair; February
24, 1977) is an American retired professional boxer. Widely considered the
greatest boxer of his era, undefeated as a professional, and a five-division
world champion, Mayweather won twelve world titles and the lineal championship
in four different weight classes (twice at welterweight); he is the only boxer
to hold lineal titles simultaneous in two divisions, at welterweight and light
middleweight. He is a two-time winner of the Ring magazine Fighter of
the Year award (1998 and 2007), a three-time winner of the Boxing Writers
Association of America (BWAA) Fighter of the Year award (2007, 2013 and 2015)
and a six-time winner of the Best Fighter ESPY Award (2007, 2008, 2010, 2012,
2013 and 2014). BoxRec currently rates Mayweather as the sixth best pound for
pound fighter of all time,[and the greatest pound for pound
welterweight of all time.[Additionally in 2016, ESPN also ranked
Mayweather as the greatest pound for pound boxer of the last 25 years.
Many sporting news and boxing websites rated Mayweather as the best pound
for pound boxer in the world twice in a span of ten years, including The
Ring, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, BoxRec, Fox Sports, and Yahoo!
Sports.Mayweather topped the Forbes and Sports Illustrated lists
of the 50 highest-paid athletes of 2012 and 2013 respectively, and the Forbes
list again in both 2014 and 2015,listing him as the highest paid athlete in the
world. In 2007, He founded Mayweather Promotions, his own boxing promotional
firm after defecting from Bob Arum's Top Rank.
He has a record of 26–0 (10 knockouts) in world title fights, 23–0 (9 KOs)
in lineal title fights, 24–0 (7 KOs) against former or current world titlists,
12–0 (3 KOs) against former or current lineal titles, and 2–0 (1 KO) against International
Boxing Hall of Fame inductees.
Mayweather has generated approximately $1,311,000,000 in pay-per-view
revenue and 19,530,000 in pay-per-view buys throughout his career, surpassing
the likes of former top pay-per-view attractions Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield,
Lennox Lewis, Oscar De La Hoya, and Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather was born in Grand
Rapids, Michigan, on February 24, 1977, into a family of boxers. His father, Floyd
Mayweather Sr., was a former welterweight contender who fought Hall of Famer Sugar
Ray Leonard. His uncles (Jeff Mayweather and Roger Mayweather) were
professional boxers, with Roger – Floyd's former trainer – winning two world
championships, fought Hall of Famers Julio César Chávez, Pernell Whitaker and Kostya
Tszyu. Mayweather was born with his mother's last name, but his last name would
change to Mayweather shortly thereafter Mayweather attended Ottawa Hills High
School before he dropped out.
Boxing has been a part of Mayweather's life since his childhood and he never
seriously considered any other profession. "I think my grandmother saw my
potential first," Mayweather said. "When I was young, I told her 'I
think I should get a job.' She said, 'No, just keep boxing'.When I was about
eight or nine, I lived in New Jersey with my mother and we were seven deep in
one bedroom and sometimes we didn't have electricity." Mayweather said.
"When people see what I have now, they have no idea of where I came from
and how I didn't have anything growing up."
It was not uncommon for young Mayweather to come home from school and find
used heroin needles in his front yard.His mother was addicted to drugs, and he
had an aunt who died from AIDS because of her drug use. "People don't know
the hell I've been through," he says.
The most time that his father spent with him was taking him to the gym to
train and work on his boxing, according to Mayweather. "I don't remember
him ever taking me anywhere or doing anything that a father would do with a
son, going to the park or to the movies or to get ice cream," he says.
"I always thought that he liked his daughter (Floyd's older sister) better
than he liked me because she never got whippings and I got whippings all the
time."
Mayweather's father contends that Floyd is not telling the truth about their
early relationship. "Even though his daddy did sell drugs, I didn't
deprive my son," the elder Mayweather says. "The drugs I sold, he was
a part of it. He had plenty of food. He had the best clothes and I gave him
money. He didn't want for anything. Anybody in Grand Rapids can tell you that I
took care of my kids". Floyd senior says he did all of his hustling at
night and spent his days with his son, taking him to the gym and training him
to be a boxer. "If it wasn't for me he wouldn't be where he is today,"
he maintains.
"I basically raised myself," Mayweather says. "My grandmother
did what she could. When she got mad at me I'd go to my mom's house. My life
was ups and downs." His father says he knows how much pain his incarceration
caused his son, but insists he did the best he could. "I sent him to live
with his grandmother," he says. "It wasn't like I left him with
strangers."
Boxing became Mayweather's outlet – a way to deal with his father's
absence.As the elder Mayweather served his time, his son – with speed and an
uncanny ring sense – put all his energies into boxing, dropping out of high
school. "I knew that I was going to have to try to take care of my mom and
I made the decision that school wasn't that important at the time and I was going
to have to box to earn a living," Mayweather says.
