Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

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Floyd Mayweather, Jr. : biography

February 24, 1977 –

Third return to light middleweight

Mayweather vs. Alvarez

Mayweather confirmed via Twitter that a deal was reached to face Ring No. 10 ranked pound for pound, WBC and WBA Super welterweight champion Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez for a championship bout on September 14, 2013, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. A catchweight of 152 pounds is established for the fight.

Dancing with the Stars

Mayweather appeared on the fifth season of Dancing with the Stars; his partner was Ukrainian-American professional ballroom dancer Karina Smirnoff. On October 16, 2007, Smirnoff and Mayweather were the fourth couple to be eliminated from the competition, finishing in ninth place.. Realitytvworld.com (October 17, 2007). Retrieved on June 20, 2011.

Relationship with Al Haymon

Mayweather’s relationship with controversial boxing manager Al Haymon is well-known.http://espn.go.com/blog/dan-rafael/post/_/id/1405/lopez-lara-sign-with-haymon This relationship has allowed Haymon to gain considerable influence in the boxing industry; in turn, Mayweather has made more money than he would have absent the relationship.

Amateur career and Olympics

The Sweet Science Sudden Thoughts

At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Mayweather won a bronze medal by reaching the semi-finals of the featherweight (57-kg)Olympic weight classes use kilograms instead of pounds. 57 kg ≈ 125.66 lb division.

In the opening round Mayweather led 10–1 on points over Bakhtiyar Tileganov of Kazakhstan, before winning when the fight was stopped. In the second round, Mayweather outpointed Artur Gevorgyan of Armenia 16–3. In the quarterfinals, the 19-year-old Mayweather narrowly defeated 22-year-old Lorenzo Aragon of Cuba in an all-action bout to win 12–11, becoming the first U.S boxer to defeat a Cuban in 20 years. The last time this occurred was the 1976 Summer Olympics, when the U.S Olympic boxing team captured five gold medals; among the recipients was Sugar Ray Leonard. In his semifinal bout against eventual silver medalist Serafim Todorov of Bulgaria, Mayweather lost by a controversial decision (similar to the Roy Jones Jr. decision). Referee Hamad Hafaz Shouman of Egypt mistakenly raised Mayweather’s hand (thinking he had won), while the decision was announced giving the bout to the Bulgarian.

The U.S. team filed a protest over the Mayweather bout, claiming the judges were intimidated by Bulgaria’s Emil Jetchev (head of the boxing officials) into favoring the Bulgarian Todorov by a 10–9 decision in the 125-pound semifinal bout. Three of Jetchev’s countrymen were in gold medal bouts. Judge Bill Waeckerle (one of the four U.S judges working the games for the International Amateur Boxing Federation) resigned as Olympic Games and federation judge after Mayweather lost the decision, which was loudly booed by the crowd at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum. "I refuse to be part of an organisation that continues to conduct its officiating in this manner", Waeckerle wrote in his letter of resignation to federation president Anwar Chowdhry.

In the official protest U.S. team manager Gerald Smith said Mayweather landed punches that were not counted, while Todorov was awarded points without landing a punch. "The judging was totally incompetent", Waeckerle said. The judges failed to impose a mandatory two-point deduction against Todorov after he was warned five times by the referee for slapping. "Everybody knows Floyd Mayweather is the gold-medal favorite at 57 kilograms", Mayweather said afterward. "In America, it’s known as 125 pounds. You know and I know I wasn’t getting hit. They say he’s the world champion. Now you all know who the real world champion is".

Featherweight Olympic qualification

  • Defeated William Jenkins RSC/TKO-3
  • Defeated James Baker RSCH/TKO-1
  • Lost to Augie Sanchez PTS (11–12)
  • Defeated Carlos Navarro PTS (31–11)
  • Defeated Augie Sanchez PTS (12–8) in the box-offs
  • Defeated Augie Sanchez PTS (20–10) in the box-offs