A little under two weeks ago, at least 1.3 million households witnessed Floyd Mayweather defeat Victor Ortiz via knockout in the fourth round of a highly debated, supposedly controversial, victory. If you’ve been hiding under a rock, Victor Ortiz intentionally head-butted Floyd Mayweather, halting the action as referee Joe Cortez deducted a point from the then champion. As Ortiz profusely apologized with hugs and kisses (literally), Mayweather geared himself to fight, as instructed by Cortez’s “Let’s Go,” motioning the fighters together at the center of the ring. As Ortiz moved in for yet another hug, of which Mayweather obliged, Mayweather hit Ortiz with a left-right combination (or two-piece with a biscuit as Money calls it) while the two separated, retiring Ortiz for the night. Given the performance and the outcome, the question to ponder now is just how bright is the future of Golden Boy’s next “Golden Boy”? Well, let’s review.
Dating back to October 1998, when Floyd Mayweather captured his first title over Genaro Hernandez, the 25 opponents of Floyd have not fared well following defeat. Prior to their bouts with Money Mayweather, opponents entered the ring with an average win percentage of 89.55%. Excluding Emanuel Augustus and Carlos Baldomir, whose win percentages prior to facing Floyd was 52.4% and 74.1% respectively, the opposition’s lowest win percentage was 85.1% (Gregorio Vargas) and the highest came with the likes of Ricky Hatton (43-0) and Diego Corrales (33-0).
Following their defeat to Money Mayweather, opponents’ win percentages dropped, on average, to a paltry 60.99%. Opponents with at least five fights (stat control) following their defeat to Floyd Mayweather totaled an average win percentage of 64.86% and opponents with at least 10 fights fared worse with an average win percentage of 61.5%.
