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<\/p>\nPerfectionist<\/p>\n
It is only in a boxing ring that a man like Floyd Mayweather is ever close to perfect. In that domain, where he is both safe and glorified, Mayweather has everything in his otherwise chaotic life in order. He has his jab, his check hook, his shoulder roll and anything else he requires to give him a sense of control in the presence of danger. He also knows he is slicker, smarter and better than anyone who threatens his control. This has been proven countless times. It is why his professional boxing record stands at 50-0 and why no blueprint to beat Mayweather exists.<\/p>\n
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He is perfect, after all, at least in the ring. There, within the ropes, he barely puts a foot wrong and has, in a sport famous for comebacks, never once had to dust himself down and return from a loss. He was, it turns out, too good for all that, despite boxing for 21 years professionally and giving just about everybody a go. There was, of course, the odd mini-crisis, expected given the nature of his sport, but of all the champions who have called a ring their home, few have been able to keep it as clean and as orderly as Floyd Mayweather. He was a stickler for it, cleanliness. He couldn\u2019t bear getting touched, let alone beaten. It became an obsession if anything. Everything in its right place. Everything just so.<\/p>\n
Frankly, to pinpoint Mayweather\u2019s imperfections is no easier than doing the same on the face of a runway model. Look hard enough and you can always find something, but when perfection becomes one\u2019s stock-in-trade, one works that bit harder to uphold the illusion of it. For Mayweather, the idea of perfection wasn\u2019t just a goal, it was a mindset. It was what he used to bait and belittle opponents \u2014 intimidate them, too \u2014 and it was a weapon he used for leverage at the negotiating table. Belts were one thing, yes, but better than belts was being perfect, of which Mayweather had evidence in the form of his pretty, unbeaten record.<\/p>\n
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Floyd Mayweather Jr. retired at 50-0 in 2017 after a win over Conor McGregor.<\/p>\n
(Christian Petersen via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Even the number on which it all ended \u2014 50-0 \u2014 was perfectly round, solid and satisfying. To get there he fought Conor McGregor in his final fight \u2014 admittedly, far from perfect \u2014 but by then everybody else had had their turn, with only a few coming close to exposing Mayweather\u2019s imperfections.<\/p>\n
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The first fighter to show that Mayweather was human was Jose Luis Castillo. The Mexican challenged Mayweather for his WBC lightweight title in 2002 and was aggressive and ambitious enough to win rounds. Whether he ultimately won the fight is debatable, but by virtue of him attacking Mayweather with the belief that he could win, Castillo immediately separated himself from all who had boxed Mayweather to that point. It wasn\u2019t just huff and puff, either. Castillo did some excellent work in that fight and plenty, to this day, believe he was unlucky not to get the nod after 12 rounds harassing Mayweather.<\/p>\n
The next time Mayweather felt discomfort was two years later, in 2004, when DeMarcus \u201cChop Chop\u201d Corley nailed him with a big left hand and suggested in the process that Mayweather\u2019s weakness could be southpaws. It was only a moment \u2014 Corley was otherwise well beaten over 12 rounds \u2014 but with such moments few and far between, the mere shock of seeing Mayweather rocked by a punch would suffice. Now others had the hope of landing that one shot in the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember everything,\u201d Corley told me. \u201cWe trained hard for Floyd and the game plan was there. We knew he wasn\u2019t a power puncher. He doesn\u2019t have explosive punching power. But he\u2019s very quick. The game plan was to get Floyd to exchange. We wanted to get him in a shootout where we could hurt him and try to finish him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got him in a shootout in the first and second rounds and in the third round I caught him. Then, in the fourth round, we tried to finish him, but he went to the ropes where he recovered and listened to his corner very well. His Uncle Roger told him, \u2018Don\u2019t bang with him. Box him.\u2019 He listened. He stopped banging with me and started boxing with me. He knew if he banged with me anymore, I was going to knock him out. I would have caught him again. It was just a matter of time.\u201d<\/p>\n
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By resisting the temptation to \u201cbang\u201d with Corley, Mayweather tightened up and tidied up, running out a clear winner on the scorecards in the end. It was a concern, though, for him to be caught like that, hurt like that, seem vulnerable like that.<\/p>\n
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Demarcus Corley was the first to really bother Floyd Mayweather.<\/p>\n
(Al Bello via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The only thing more concerning for a clean freak like Mayweather was to be beaten at his own game. Because while it is true that any fight can turn with the landing of one significant blow, the prospect of Mayweather getting outboxed or struggling for an extended period in a fight was something else; something he couldn\u2019t comprehend; something we had never before witnessed. Even against Castillo, whose aggression made him restless, there was never a sense that Mayweather was being outboxed or outfoxed. He was simply fighting the wrong kind of fight at times.<\/p>\n
In fact, it wasn\u2019t until Mayweather met Zab Judah, another southpaw, in 2006 that we saw, for perhaps the first time, Mayweather meet his match in terms of both speed and skill.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHe struggled because I was quick and because we knew each other,\u201d said Judah, reflecting on his unanimous decision loss to Mayweather 20 years ago. \u201cI knew him; he knew me. There was nothing that surprised me. Nothing I hadn\u2019t seen before. In \u201996, we were best friends \u2014 me, him, Zahir [Raheem]. I\u2019d been around Floyd at a younger age in different tournaments. He was always Detroit; I was always New York. We always kicked it.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was certainly an uneasiness about Mayweather that night, particularly early on. For four rounds, Judah was not only in the fight but arguably leading, and time and time again he got to Mayweather before Mayweather could get to him. Such was his speed, you see, Judah was able to lead when he wanted to, as well as counter whenever Mayweather tried stepping to him and initiating an attack. All in all, Judah had every reason to feel pretty comfortable throughout the first half of the fight and only his tendency to fade, coupled with Mayweather\u2019s tendency to solve problems, saw Judah fall off in the fight\u2019s second half.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike he says, I won six rounds, he won six rounds,\u201d said Judah. \u201cIf he won six and I won six, what does that mean? I would have accepted a draw. At least then I know I would have messed up his pretty record. Back then he was known as \u2018Pretty Boy\u2019 and I would have messed up the \u2018Pretty Boy\u2019 record.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it was a great night, a very big night. I felt excellent in there. I felt like at the end of it I would get a draw. I really believed that.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Zab Judah nearly took a draw against Floyd Mayweather in 2006.<\/p>\n
(Al Bello via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Usually when Mayweather beat an opponent, it was by decision, and usually when he won a fight by decision, it was unanimous, meaning nobody disputed it. In a career awash with decisions, only Marcos Maidana and Saul \u201cCanelo\u201d Alvarez received even scores against Mayweather (one scorecard of 114-114 in both cases, with Maidana\u2019s far more deserved than Alvarez\u2019s), and only one opponent had ever beaten Mayweather according to a scorecard: Oscar De La Hoya. He, according to the scorecard of judge Tom Kaczmarek, edged Mayweather by a score of 115-113 in 2007, and if it wasn\u2019t for that score being overruled by the scores of the two other judges \u2014 116-112 and 115-113 \u2014 De La Hoya could have been the one to take Mayweather\u2019s zero. \u201cI thought I landed crisper punches,\u201d De La Hoya said at the time. \u201cIf I didn’t press the fight, there would be no fight. I hurt him with a few punches that I know he felt and I was pressing and wanted to stop him. I was trying to close the show. I am the [WBC super welterweight] champion and you\u2019ve got to do more than that to beat the champion.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The one other time Mayweather\u2019s perfect record came under threat was in 2010, the night he failed to get out of the way of a Shane Mosley right hand thrown in Round 2. As with Corley in 2004, Mayweather, upon taking the shot, all of a sudden found that his legs were unsteady and that his instinct was to hold. He was, in the tradition of so many of his opponents, now looking to survive.<\/p>\n
\u201cHistory could have been changed,\u201d said Mosley. \u201cI think Floyd thought, \u2018Oh, he\u2019s an older guy, he\u2019s not as strong or as fast as he used to be.\u2019 He didn\u2019t believe in the power. When I hit him the first time, I think it caught him off guard. You could see him thinking, \u2018How did he get that right hand in?\u2019 He still wasn\u2019t convinced, so then he tried his little check hook and I went over the top again with the right hand. That\u2019s when I almost knocked him out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think for a moment he saw black and thought he was going to be knocked out. But in some kind of way he proved he was a champion by recovering from it. He started holding and doing what it takes to survive. That\u2019s what champions do. They find a way to survive and then win. He did just that.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the end, like all of Mayweather opponents, Mosley was left ruing what could have been. He had tasted it, victory, but hadn\u2019t been able to secure it.<\/p>\n
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\u201cBack in my day I know I would have knocked him out,\u201d claimed Mosley. \u201cI didn\u2019t believe he could take my punches. I rocked him in the second round and it wasn\u2019t really that hard. I just kind of slid in and got him. So I knew I was going to get him again. But it just never happened. I could never get another clean shot.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think if I was a little bit younger and in better shape, I would have been able to throw a lot more punches and get different positions, and I think I would have been able to catch him with the shot I was looking for. My timing wouldn\u2019t have been as bad as it was when I fought him. I would have timed him and caught him.\u201d<\/p>\n
In every respect, Mosley\u2019s timing was wrong in 2010. The timing of the fight was wrong and, for the most part, the timing of his punches wasn\u2019t much better. Worst of all, after hurting Mayweather in Round 2, he quickly ran out of time.<\/p>\n
By 2017, the year of Mayweather\u2019s retirement, so had everybody else.<\/p>\n
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Exhibitionist<\/p>\n
When the great American novelist Phillip Roth decided his time was up at the age of 80, he stopped doing what he loved and what fueled him and refused to look back. Eighty, he felt, was a good number on which to exit. It was round. It was solid. It had a nice ring to it. \u201cI had reached the end,\u201d Roth said in an interview with the BBC around that time. \u201cThere was nothing more for me to write about. I was fearful. Yes, I was fearful that I would have nothing to do. I was terrified, in fact. But I knew there was no sense continuing. I was not going to get any better, and why get worse? So I set out upon the great task of doing nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
In retirement, Floyd Mayweather had only his perfect 50-0 record to remind him of his perfection. He no longer had the ring in which to show it, nor could he experience that addictive thrill of seeing fear in the eyes of an opponent. All that had gone on account of his decision to call it a day at the age of 40.<\/p>\n
Now all Mayweather had was his imperfect civilian life, only without the escape and relative serenity of the boxing ring whenever it got too real. Some still called him perfect when referencing his 50-0 record, of course, but seldom would Mayweather ever feel perfect once he chose to quit boxing in 2017.<\/p>\n
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To try to remedy this, he sought a middle ground. Ideally, he wanted to remind us of his excellence in the boxing ring, but to do so with the risk mitigated and no possibility of him spoiling perfection. After all, he had worked so hard to obtain his perfect record and reputation inside the ring. The last thing he would want in his advancing years was to sully his 50-0 and have to acknowledge the imperfections we all experience as we grow older.<\/p>\n
The best thing for it, he believed, was to partake in exhibition bouts. That way he could still offer the impression of being an active boxer without the danger the profession entails. For Mayweather, the danger was always less about what an opponent could do to him in the ring and more about the damage done to his reputation should he lose that precious zero by which he is defined. But still, damage is damage and Mayweather had, where he could, often looked to minimize it. He had also loved nothing more than being seen and admired and showing off and there is no place better for an aging fighter to indulge such narcissistic urges than in exhibition matches. Mayweather sensed that in his final pro fight, against McGregor in 2017, and then fully immersed himself in the culture the following year, when he agreed to an exhibition bout with kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa in Japan. \u201cIt wasn’t easy to make this happen,\u201d he said, \u201cbut we told the people anything is possible, so now we\u2019re here and we want to make sure that we give the people in Tokyo what they want to see: blood, sweat and tears.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Tenshin Nasukawa never stood a chance.<\/p>\n
(TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
In reality, the \u201cpeople\u201d were served a mismatch at the Saitama Super Arena that New Year\u2019s Eve, with Mayweather dropping Nasukawa three times in Round 1 before the kickboxer\u2019s corner cut short the spectacle. Afterward, Mayweather confirmed that he was still retired and said that he only appeared in the exhibition bout to entertain fans.<\/p>\n
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He then used that same line ahead of an exhibition bout against internet personality Logan Paul on June 6, 2021, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. He also used it before an exhibition bout with Don Moore, one of his former sparring partners, in Abu Dhabi on May 21, 2022, and again when he returned to the Saitama Super Arena on Sept. 25, 2022 to stop mixed martial artist Mikuru Asakura in two rounds. Now, at this point, you started to wonder what exactly Mayweather wished to exhibit and for whom he was exhibiting it.<\/p>\n
Regardless, there was no stopping him. More exhibitions soon followed: One against YouTuber Deji Olatunji, the younger brother of KSI, on Nov. 13, 2022, at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai; one against UK reality TV star Aaron Chalmers on Feb. 25, 2023, at The O2 Arena in England; and then not one but two exhibitions with John Gotti III, the offspring of mafiosi, in 2023 and 2024.<\/p>\n
Following all that, Mayweather, with interest starting to wane, turned his focus to other retired boxers finding it just as hard to say \u201cno.\u201d There was, for instance, a deal to do an exhibition bout with \u201cIron\u201d Mike Tyson<\/a>, now 58 and of course a heavyweight. That was announced in September 2025 only to promptly fall apart under the weight of its own baggage. In its place, a different direction was then proposed: Mayweather rematching Manny Pacquiao on Sept. 19, 2026 at The Sphere in Las Vegas<\/a>, live on Netflix. This, coming as it did off the back of Mayweather vs. Tyson, was an easier proposition to stomach, though still it reflected badly<\/a> on the ability of both men to walk away and be content.<\/p>\n Eleven years later, they’re set to do it again.<\/p>\n (Las Vegas Review-Journal via Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"Manny](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/f49fc9cd-3f7c-4921-a8bc-701af6a98d8a.jpeg\"\/)
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