Floyd Mayweather may have retired with a perfect 50\u20130 record, but not every victory was routine.<\/p>\n
His last contest against UFC star Conor McGregor was a lucrative exhibition and the richest way imaginable to move from 49 to 50. Long before he became \u201cMoney\u201d Mayweather, however, he was \u201cPretty Boy\u201d \u2014 a fighter who carved his way through the super-featherweight and lightweight divisions during a period when purses, not personas, defined his rise.<\/p>\n
Mayweather\u2019s final bout at 130lbs came against Jesus Chavez in November 2001. Having held the WBC title since 1998, his eighth defence proved to be his last.<\/p>\n
Turning the challenger\u2019s strengths against him, Mayweather systematically wore Chavez down before trainer Ronnie Shields retired his man on the stool after the ninth round. Afterwards, Mayweather confirmed his move up to lightweight and made his intentions clear.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m after Castillo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jose Luis Castillo, then in his second year as WBC lightweight champion, knew the challenge was imminent. When the pair met on April 20, 2002, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Mayweather again emerged victorious \u2014 though in controversial fashion. A pro-Castillo crowd greeted the scorecards of 115\u2013111 (twice) and 116\u2013111 with loud boos, unimpressed by what they felt was an unjust verdict.<\/p>\n
Promoter Bob Arum<\/a> was among the loudest critics of the judging and later told ESPN<\/a> who he believed deserved the decision.<\/p>\n \u201cLook at Harold Lederman\u2019s commentary on it for HBO \u2014 he scored it 116\u2013111 for Castillo \u2014 and look at the punch stats. And then, for them not only to score the fight unanimously for Floyd, but to score it like it wasn\u2019t even a competitive fight. They gave him all the rounds. What kind of craziness was that scoring?<\/p>\n \u201cCastillo won that fight, eight rounds to four. I mean, no question about it.\u201d<\/p>\n