Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

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Floyd Mayweather, Jr. : biography

February 24, 1977 –

Roger Mayweather returned to his role as his nephew’s trainer for his next bout; a non-title lightweight fight against Emanuel Burton, which Mayweather won in a ninth-round technical knockout.

Mayweather vs. Corrales

In one of the more definitive and memorable fights of his career Mayweather fought the hard-hitting, former IBF super-featherweight champion Diego Corrales (33–0, with 27 KOs). Coming into the bout Mayweather and Corrales were undefeated, and neither fighter had touched the canvas. Mayweather was The Ring’s #2-ranked super featherweight in the world (and #7 pound-for-pound), while Corrales was the #1-ranked super featherweight in the world and #5 pound-for-pound. Before the fight was announced Mayweather had stated he wanted to fight Corrales, who was facing jail time for allegedly beating his pregnant wife. "I want Diego because I’m doing it for all the battered women across America", Mayweather said. "Just like he beat that woman, I’m going to beat him". While both fighters were the same age (23), Corrales had several physical advantages over Mayweather: two inches in height, an inch in reach and (despite both arriving at the official weight-in at the 130-lb super-featherweight limit) unofficially 146 lbs, versus Mayweather’s 136½ lbs. In the bout, Mayweather won every round and knocked down Corrales five times (three times in round 7 and twice in round 10). After the fifth knockdown, Corrales’ cornermen climbed onto the apron and stopped the fight, thereby establishing Mayweather as a claimant to boxing’s mythical pound-for-pound title. At the time of the stoppage Mayweather was ahead on the scorecards, leading by 89–79, 90–79 and 90–78.. Boxrec.com. Retrieved on June 20, 2011. Throughout the fight, HBO commentators analyzed Mayweather. Larry Merchant stated, "Mayweather fights in a tradition of boxing and quick handedness that goes back in Michigan, all the way to fighters like Sugar Ray Robinson". Harold Lederman remarked, "Jim (Lampley), I gotta tell ya, I’m terribly impressed, I don’t think I’ve seen an exhibition of boxing like this since Willie Pep, this kid is unbelievable, great legs, great speed, unbelievable ring-generalship. I mean he’s got tremendous presence in that ring, Floyd Mayweather knows where he is, every minute of this fight…"

Corrales landed 60 of 205 punches, and landed no more than nine punches in a single round. Mayweather landed 220 of 414 punches. Corrales was unable to land any clean shots, as he stalked Mayweather through the early rounds. He landed an average of six punches a round, according to Compubox stats – the only time that a fighter has registered single digits in the 20 years CompuBox has been tracking punch statistics.

After the fight Mayweather remarked, "I would like to fight Prince Naseem (Hamed), hopefully we can meet at 128 (Lbs) or he can come up to 130 (Lbs), we can fight or I can fight the winner of Casamayor…" "Prince Naseem isn’t going to fight you," intervened HBO commentator Larry Merchant; who then chuckled and added: "after he saw this, it ain’t gonna happen". "I really want to fight Prince Naseem…" Mayweather continued, "but hopefully I can face the winner of Casamayor (vs.) Freites". Although neither fight materialised, Mayweather’s opponent Diego Corrales would later hand Freites (the winner of the Casamayor vs. Freites fight) his first professional defeat and defeat Casamayor via controversial decision in a rematch of their first bout. Afterwards, Arum was ecstatic about his new star. "Better than Sugar Ray Leonard", he asserted. "And did you see him at those press conferences…?"

The fight was met with acclaim in the boxing world and sports in general. CBS said, "Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s speed was dazzling. His power was unexpected" and the BBC reported on "… a near flawless performance…". The New York Daily News reported that "Floyd Mayweather Jr., displaying blazing speed and punishing power…" and Sports Illustrated reported "… a fistic masterpiece".