“Sugar ain’t s***. I’m the sweetest of them all”
SUPER-FEATHERWEIGHT Floyd Mayweather (1999) versus Julio Cesar Chavez (1986)
Young Mayweather was lethal at super-feather, and a yard quicker than anyone Chavez had faced by 1986. But the American, yet to become the self-righteous monster of the future but cocksure nonetheless, was unaware that ring creatures like Chavez existed.
Much like Uncle Roger managed in his 1985 bout with Chavez, Mayweather has little trouble using his reach and speed to win the opening round against the Mexican. But unlike his uncle, Floyd also stays out of trouble for the second, measuring Chavez?s rushes and tagging him regularly. In the third and fourth, Chavez is closing the distance but, upon arrival, the greeting remains a rapid one-two in his face.
?Well Jim,? cries a typically gleeful Harold Lederman to Jim Lampley after the first quarter, ?I got this 40-36 for Mayweather. The scoring should be a no-brainer to this point.? But things change around the halfway mark, and in the ninth two digs clatter home and Floyd buckles. He is caught flush by a right, his head swings to the side and as his body falls, the bell sounds.
Somehow, Mayweather recovers, leaving the bout poised going into the last. The ?Pretty Boy? is dropped midway through the round by a left hook and short right over Mayweather?s shoulder. As the clock ticks down, Mayweather is locked in a corner but still manages to avoid more than he takes. The final bell booms, the crowd erupts, and both men fling their arms towards the sky.
?It?s a close one Jim!? screams Lederman. ?I got it 114-113 for Mayweather!? Two of the three judges agree, while the other tallies 115-112 for Chavez. Mayweather wins a decision destined to split opinion forever.
LIGHTWEIGHT Floyd Mayweather (2003) versus Roberto Duran (1975)
The snarling Duran of 1975, who tortured Ray Lampkin, is widely regarded as the finest lightweight creature of all time. But he didn?t fight anyone like Mayweather, who emerged from a crisis against Jose Luis Castillo in 2002 improved and victorious.
Just after both fighters have weighed in on the division limit, Floyd Mayweather walks straight at Roberto Duran.
?Get ready Roberta, get ready for a beating,? he barks. Duran stares into Mayweather?s soul. ?C?mon on Roberta, you got something to say?? An assassin?s smile appears on Duran?s face. He points to Mayweather, then to the floor, and blows a kiss.
When battle begins, the American is intent on scoring first and he times Roberto?s rage perfectly ? a three punch volley connects. Duran doesn?t blink, walks forward and plunges a ferocious right deep into his rival?s ribs. Game on.
Duran is at his best, technically brilliant and controlling the pace. Mayweather is struggling to cope but he is not being dominated, zippy combos find their target regularly. But come round six, Duran has sampled enough of Mayweather?s punches to know he can take them. And if you can?t hurt Duran, he hurts you.
By round 10, Mayweather is exhausted. And there is nowhere to hide. Duran pins him in a corner and throws out hell. Each part of Mayweather?s upper body is under attack. His stomach, his neck, his arms, his face. He?s out on his feet. After 2:46 of the session, the referee halts the shellacking.
?Well,? Larry Merchant says, ?that?s what happens when you annoy Roberta Duran.?
LIGHT-WELTERWEIGHT Floyd Mayweather (2005) versus Pernell Whitaker (1992)
Perhaps this was Floyd at his absolute best. Quick, accurate, powerful. Pernell probably peaked at lightweight but this 1992 carnation, who dominated Rafael Pineda and still had that ?draw? with Julio Cesar Chavez ahead of him, was an immense boxer.
When two boxing masterminds collide, violence can be skilfully avoided. Whitaker?s movement is exceptional and he targets the body but Mayweather elegantly responds, his legs dancing, the right cross providing success.
In round six, boos can be heard from the cheap seats but those with a good view are transfixed by the artistry on display. Mayweather jerks back from a Whitaker attack and fires an uppercut towards Whitaker. With Matrix-like reactions, ?Sweet P? bends backwards, loosens his knees and bounces to the right.
?Wow,? enthuses Emanuel Steward from behind his commentary mic. ?I have never seen two guys as good at not getting hit.?
The 12 rounds pass by smoothly, both enjoy sporadic success, convinced they?ve done enough to win. According to CompuBox, Whitaker landed more but Mayweather?s work was more memorable. A score of 116-112 for Whitaker is overruled by tallies of 117-113 and 115-114 for Mayweather.
?I wasn?t playing games in there, I was dominating,? Whitaker rasps. ?All he was doing was trying to copy me. Someone ought to tell him there?s only one Pernell Whitaker.?
WELTERWEIGHT Floyd Mayweather (2006) versus Sugar Ray Robinson (1947)
According to those lucky enough to witness Robinson at this time, there has never been a finer graduate of the sweet science. By 2006, Mayweather had slowed a touch, but he was wiser, his defence superb, his ring generalship excellent, and rarely was a punch wasted.
50 experts are asked to poll their predictions in the lead up to this welterweight superfight. The results read: Robinson 50, Mayweather 0.
?Y?all gonna see what I?ve always told you,? Floyd growls towards the media at the final press conference. ?I am the greatest fighter who ever lived. Sugar ain?t s***. I?m the sweetest of them all.?
Robinson grins, his suit hanging perfectly from his frame as he tilts his matching bowler hat towards his mouthy rival.
The following night, inside Madison Square Garden in New York City, the fight begins. And Mayweather is in the mood to make his mark. He takes the first round, Robinson struggling to cope with this new breed of fighter in front of him and, as Ray swings into thin air at the close of the round, Mayweather grins wildly.
By round three, though, Robinson is in full command. His combinations and footwork are like nothing Mayweather has seen before and in round five, after taking an exquisite left, Floyd looks tempted to applaud his rival?s brilliance.
The fight is a formality by round nine, and Mayweather can offer only sporadic attacks. After being decked by a looping uppercut-cum-hook in the 10th, Floyd opts to survive. He hears the final bell, but loses a lopsided decision (119-109 twice and 118-110).
?I guess the press were right this time,? says a sombre Mayweather at the post-fight presser. Rumour has it he then drowned his sorrows with his conqueror at Ray?s Harlem bar.
LIGHT-MIDDLEWEIGHT Floyd Mayweather (2007) versus Terry Norris (1992)
Back in 1992 ?Terrible? Terry was on fire. He had already flattened John Mugabi in a round, dominated an old Sugar Ray Leonard, thrashed Don Curry, and was too much for Meldrick Taylor. But none of his victims were as close to their peak as Floyd was in 2007.
Norris starts fast and staggers Mayweather with a huge right hand in the first minute. Floyd grabs hold of the top rope to halt his fall. Norris leaps forward, ready to remove Mayweather?s senses but the referee steps in and issues a standing count.
Floyd?s first reaction is to smile but the fake crescent tells its own tale ? Mayweather is in trouble. Norris can sense it, too.
Mayweather survives the crisis but is also outgunned in the second round. By the third, though, Floyd has altered his approach while Norris, buoyed by his early dominance, continues to take risks and holes in his defence start to get punished. Lefts and rights ping into his face.
?Norris is starting to look a little ragged in there,? Jim Lampley reports seconds before an unseen swipe crashes off Terry?s jaw.
?A huge Mayweather right and down goes Norris,? Lampley yelps. ?And he?s in deep trouble.? Norris beats the count but his legs are spaghetti, unable to keep him steady. Referee Richard Steele quickly examines Terry?s condition and signals the fight is over.
Norris, his condition improving, screams that he?s okay. Boos maraud through the crowds? cheers, but it?s too late. Fight over.
MIDDLEWEIGHT Floyd Mayweather (2012) versus Sugar Ray Leonard (1987)
Given that Mayweather has yet to compete at middleweight it would be unfair to pitch him against a man who had spent his career in the division, like Marvin Hagler or Carlos Monzon. So welcome Sugar Ray, who made two appearances at middleweight.
?He doesn?t how to lose,? Leonard says before the fight, the smile that seduced a nation cradling his patter. ?He will learn.?
On fight night, Mayweather is keen to out-showbiz the master of flash, and as he waits to enter the battlefield, a catwalk that leads straight to the ring rises from beneath the ground. Floyd glides along it, smiling but focused.
Leonard?s reach advantage is obvious from the first bell, and at 30 years old, he is noticeably quicker than his 35-year-old rival. At 159lbs, Floyd is impressively muscled but sluggish in the opening exchanges.
Ray attacks early in the rounds, dances in the middle, before returning to duty in the final minute. In round five, Mayweather is forced to become the aggressor, and slips beneath a nuisance jab and cracks in an uppercut. Briefly stunned, Leonard holds before spinning out of danger. Floyd is back in the fight.
Ray?s long right regularly spears Mayweather, the older man?s shoulder rolls deflecting some danger but not enough. Floyd takes the final session, digging deep to stun Ray again but when the final bell tolls, he makes no effort to celebrate. In the end, Leonard was too big and too quick. Two scores of 115-113, and a curious tally of 114-114, hand Leonard victory.
?He was a good student,? says Ray afterwards.
