Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. (born Feb. 24, 1977) is a retired professional boxer who currently owns Boxing Promotion, Mayweather Promotions. Mayweather is hailed by pundits in the boxing world as the greatest boxer in modern times. The star who has been undefeated since he began his professional boxing career has won several medals and belts across various divisions. Ranked by various boxing news media outlets as the best in the last 25 years and one of the greatest of all-time, Mayweather is widely seen as a symbol for success, sheer hard-will and strength. In this article on Floyd Mayweather biography, facts, childhood and personal life, we review his profile, important events from his childhood to present and his rise to the heights of boxing.
Floyd Mayweather Biography Quick Facts, Age
Here are some quick facts that you should know about the American professional boxer.
- Full Name: Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr.
- Nicknames: Pretty Boy, Money, TBE
- Date of Birth: February 24, 1977
- Age: 46 years old
- Place of Birth: Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
- Nationality: American
- Height: 5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
- Weight: 68 kg
- Reach: 72 in (183 cm)
- Education: Ottawa High School
- Parents:
- Father: Floyd Mayweather Sr.
- Mother: Deborah Sinclair
- Siblings:
- Brother: Justin Mayweather Jones
- Sisters: Fatimah Mayweather; Deltricia Tawanna Howard; Fannie Orr
- Marital Status: Single
- Children:
- Sons: Mayweather; Koraun Mayweather
- Daughters: Iyanna Mayweather; Zion Shamaree Jirah Mayweather
- Occupation: Boxer
- Weight/Division: Heavyweight, Welterweight, Featherweight, Lightweight, Super featherweight, Light middleweight, Light welterweight
- Boxing Career: 1996–2007, 2009-2010, 2011-2015
- Zodiac Sign: Pisces
Floyd Mayweather Childhood/Early Life & Family Background
Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. was born on 24 February 1977 in Michigan into a family of boxers. His father, Mayweather Sr. once fought boxing Hall of Famer, Sugar Ray Leonard. As a young boy, Mayweather had long been interested in boxing. He credits his grandmother with being the first to notice his boxing gifts.
While he was young, Mayweather’s father was imprisoned due to his drug sales. He thus had to live with his mother in New Jersey in an apartment with one bedroom shared by 8 occupants. Aside from that Mayweather’s mother abused drugs and was an addict. He often returned from school and met syringes from drugs in front of his house. Mayweather recounts that as a young boy, he had to raise himself as his father was absent from his early life due to his incarceration while his mother was addicted to drugs. Mayweather dropped out of high school to focus on boxing. His boxing skills were bred by his father and uncles who were all boxers.
Floyd Mayweather Amateur Boxing Career
Though it’s not clear when he began his amateur boxing career, Mayweather had an impressive record in his amateur career. As an amateur boxer, he was known for his defensive style of boxing which earned him the nickname ‘pretty boy’.
Mayweather fought in 92 bouts in his amateur career, losing just 8 times, while winning 84 times. He also won the national Golden Gloves championships on three occasions. In the 1996 Olympics games, Mayweather who was in outstanding form lost in the semifinals by a controversial decision. His hands were raised by the referee who thought he was the winner, but his opponent, Bulgaria’s Serafim Todorov was announced as the winner. The decision was marked by boos from spectators. Mayweather went on to win the bronze medal in the Olympics.
Floyd Mayweather Professional Boxing Career, Records & Achievements
Boxing Record
| Total fights | 50 |
|---|---|
| Wins | 50 |
| Wins by KO | 27 |
| Losses | 0 |
In October 1996, Mayweather defeated Roberto Apodaca by KO in the second round. That bout was his first professional boxing match. He went on to record successive wins through 1996 to 1998. His impressive boxing skills attracted praises from prominent boxing commentators. In 1998, Mayweather captured his first world title, the WBC super featherweight title. He thus became the first US 1996 Olympics medalist to win a world title. He went on to defend his title four more times. Ahead of his 5th title defence, Mayweather fired his father as his manager. He soon fired his father as his trainer.
After his successful title defence, Mayweather’s next notable fight was against Diego Corrales, who was undefeated. Prior to the fight, Diego had reportedly beaten up his pregnant wife and Mayweather had made it known that he wanted to beat Corrales the way he beat his wife. In the fight, Mayweather dominated outstandingly. He landed 220 of 414 punches and won despite being physically disadvantaged in the fight.
After the fight, he went on to fight to retain his WBC super-featherweight title against Carlos Hernandez. In the fight, Hernandez suffered the first KO of his career after he hit Hernandez with his left hand in the 6th round which became injured and thus he dropped to the canvass and was given an eight count. He proceeded to fight his last fight in the featherweight division against Jesús Chávez who he defeated. Following that he was rated the top boxer in the Super-featherweight division.
Following his successful exploits in the featherweight division, he went on to fight in the lightweight division. In his first fight, the WBC arranged for him to fight against José Luis Castillo, the top most ranked boxer in the division. He defeated him to emerge as The Ring and lineal lightweight and WBC champion. His win over Castillo was narrow and so a rematch was agreed. In December 2002, he went head to head against Castillo after recovering from a shoulder injury and once again emerged champion. After he successfully defended his lightweight titles, he went on to the light welterweight division.
He debuted in the division by fighting against DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley who he defeated. He went on to fight Henry Bruseles, who he defeated. Following his victory over Bruseles, he had a pay-per-view bout with Arturo Gatti, who was the top-ranked contender for the light welterweight title. He went on to the welterweight division where he captured the IBF welterweight after he defeated Zab Judah. The victory over Judah was marked by Judah’s foul play. Judah hit Mayweather below the belt and his trainer Roger Mayweather entered the ring to confront Judah. The Nevada State Athletic Commission fined and suspended Roger Mayweather and also banned Judah for a year. The ban prevented a rematch, and thus Mayweather had to vacate the title. He also departed Arum’s boxing promotions and established Mayweather Promotions.
In 2006, he fought Carlos Baldomir who was the reigning welterweight champion. He defeated Baldomir and became the first boxer to win Rings lightweight and welterweight titles after Robert Durán. He earned $8 million from his fight against Baldomir. Mayweather went on to fight Oscar De La Hoya for the light-middleweight championship. The bout which attracted 2.5 million Pay-per-views generated $120 million. Following his victory over Oscar De La Hoya, Mayweather began contemplating retirement. Mayweather went on to relinquish his title and retired.
Following a brief retirement, Golden Boy Promotions arranged a fight between Mayweather and welterweight champion, Ricky Hatton. The fight which was held in December 2007, saw Mayweather defeat Hatton. His next fight came up in 2009 against Ring lightweight champion, Juan Manuel Márquez. The fight which generated more than 1 million PPV was won by Mayweather. Mayweather’s next fight was said to be against WBA super-welterweight champion, Shane Mosley who refused to pay the required sanctioning fee for the bout to be held. He thus went on to fight Mosley in Olympics style, a fight which he won. Following that, he decided he wanted to capture more titles in various weight divisions.
In 2009, Mayweather began negotiations for a fight between himself and Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao. The negotiations which lasted for years fell through as Mayweather refused to fight Pacquiao due to his affiliations with Bob Arum Top Rank saying he’ll never do business with Bob Arum. In September 2011, he defeated Victor Ortiz who was the welterweight champion. After that he proceeded to the light middleweight title, to fight against Super welterweight champion, Miguel Cotto who he defeated once again. The fight went down as the second-highest non-heavyweight fight with the most PPV. He successfully defended his title against Robert Guerrero after which he proceeded to fight Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez, the super welterweight champion who he defeated.
In 2014, he fought Marcos Maidana, who had recently won the WBA Super welterweight title in 2013. After he defeated Maidana, a rematch was agreed on which saw Mayweather emerged victorious once again. After years of negotiations, his fight with Manny Pacquiao took place in May 2015, with Mayweather dominating the latter. Fans were disappointed as the fight did not live up to its hype. After his fight with Pacquiao, he decided to defend his titles one last time against Andre Berth. After the fight against Berth which he won, he announced he’ll retire which meant his WBC, welterweights titles will be vacant.
After his retirement, it was rumoured Mayweather will come out of retirement to fight UFC fighter, Conor McGregor. The fight which took place in August 2017, saw Mayweather emerged victorious in front of 14,623 spectators. He reportedly earned $300 million from the fight. Following his fight with McGregor, he went on to fight kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa in an exhibition fight. The fight which lasted just 3 rounds saw Mayweather win by TKO.
Floyd Mayweather Personal Life, Relationships & Trivia
Mayweather is father to about 4 children or more. In 2020, the mother of three of his children, his ex-girlfriend Josie Harris was found dead in her home in California.
Mayweather lives in a five-bedroom mansion in Las Vegas. In interviews, he recounts his childhood experiences revealing he came from a very poor background to affluence. Mayweather is known for his affluence and is a controversial sports personality who had been caught on the wrong side of the law on several occasions.
In 2002, he received a six month suspended sentence after he was convicted of domestic abuse. In 2004, he was punished with 100 hours of community service and a $1000 fine over misdemeanour against women. In 2020, his now late ex-girlfriend and mother of three of his children filed a domestic battery case against him which led to his arrest and bail of $30,000. He was charged with felony coercion, misdemeanour harassment and domestic battery. Ahead of his fight against Manny Pacquiao, his late ex-girlfriend sued him for $20 million for defamation after he referred to her as a drug abuser in an interview. In 2018, he had to pay a $750,000 fine to the SEC after he didn’t report payment received from cryptocurrency company, Centra Tech Inc.
SEE MORE: Biography facts and profile of famous boxers
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