Boxing legend Floyd Mayweather believes he’s “The Best Ever” and sees his 50-0 benchmark as the greatest record compiled in the ring.
Mayweather even compared his record with Mexican superstar Julio Cesar Chavez and said his overhauls that despite holding over two times the victories.
“Money” still competes in exhibitions at 45, but when asked about his C.V. upon professional retirement, Mayweather had no doubts about where he should be placed in history.
Floyd Mayweather on 50-0
“Sometimes when I speak, I speak from the heart,” Mayweather told FightHype. “I don’t knock, no fighter. I speak the truth.
“You see some fighters with a hundred-plus fights [like Julio Cesar Chavez]. They say he’s great because he’s got 109-4 [record, it’s actually 107-6-2 officially].
“Out of the 109-4, he’s got 80 knockouts [85], but who did he beat in those fights?
“If I accomplished more than he accomplished in 50 fights, then that means that he was working harder and I was smarter. It’s always about working smarter.
“When I fought [Genaro] Hernandez [in 1998 for the WBC title] when I was 21, and he was 31 or 32, they said that he had too much experience for me.
“But then, after the fight, they said he was over the hill.
“When I fought Canelo, Canelo was the younger fighter. They said he was inexperienced. But we had the same amount of fights when we fought.
“I was in my thirties, and he was in his youthful years.
“When I faced Shane [Mosley], we were both in our thirties. He had just come off his biggest win against Antonio Margarito.
“Then, when I beat him, they said he was washed.
“When I faced Oscar [De La Hoya in 2007], he chose everything from the gloves to the weight class.
Numbers don’t lie
“Again, Canelo and his team said we want to fight you at a catchweight because we believe we can beat you, and I was over the hill.
“I’m not knocking these fighters. I’m just explaining what goes on in the sport of boxing. About people knowing this sport and people not knowing the sport.
“I don’t pay any attention to it. My saying is, ‘men lie, women lie, but numbers don’t lie.
“It’s the Mayweather rules and totally different for me.”
Mayweather surpassed Rocky Marciano to reach the tally he took into retirement. Marciano was out in front at 49-0 until Mayweather first beat Andre Berto to level in 2015. He then defeated Conor McGregor in what was effectively an exhibition, overtaking at 50-0.
There was a slight danger of Mayweather losing the honor when Wanheng Menayothin [Chayaphon Moonsri] moved to 54-0 in 2019.
Menayothin hung up his gloves to take the marker away from the American boxer. However, Golden Boy offered the Thai fighter a contract, and he came out of retirement a year later.
He fought four bouts since taking the record, losing three. Mayweather was once again the leader of the pack.
