Now that he’s retired, perfect, unbeaten at 50-0 and filthy rich, Floyd “Money” Mayweather leaves those fight fans who wanted so badly to see him lose a fight – and there are plenty of these fans in existence – feeling very disappointed. A comeback could happen, yes, and if Floyd, at age 40 or 41, did box again, he could certainly lose.
But don’t count on it: Floyd coming back, that is. No, this retirement announcement, made by Mayweather soon after his dismantling of UFC star Conor McGregor, seems to be one that will stick. So those fans who cannot stand Mayweather are left to point at fights they claim Mayweather actually did lose; only not officially.
Who came closest to taking away Floyd’s zero, his “O?” Ask any boxing fan with even a little knowledge of Mayweather’s great pro career, and they will undoubtedly reply quickly, and the name they will utter is Jose Luis Castillo. For years, ever since the fight took place in April of 2002, down at lightweight, many millions of fans, and plenty of experts, have claimed the tough hombre from Mexico was robbed of a deserved decision victory that night in Las Vegas.
Castillo roughed Mayweather up, he bullied him, he hit him plenty and he appeared to have outworked and outpointed him. But Mayweather, who was carrying a shoulder injury in the fight, escaped with a 12-round UD. The rematch later that same year saw Mayweather adapt to Castillo’s style and approach, and “Pretty Boy” won a 12-round UD he absolutely did deserve.
Another rough and tough warrior who, in the opinion of some, came close to beating Mayweather, is Argentine slugger Marcos Maidana; again in the first of two fights he had with “Money.” Back in May of 2014, at welterweight, Maidana jumped right on Mayweather and fought in a somewhat similar manner to the way Castillo fought against Floyd. Maidana certainly had his moments of success against the self-proclaimed TBE, but he lost on the cards – the fight was scored a majority decision tough, and Mayweather knew he’d been in a fight.
And that’s basically it as far as listing the fighters who came genuinely close to defeating Mayweather (perhaps Sugar Shane Mosley deserves a mention, as the man who perhaps came closest to knocking out Mayweather – in that 2nd round back in May of 2010).
Mayweather goes down in history as arguably the biggest name in the sport to have taken the least amount of punishment throughout an entire career. Like it or not – and yes, he did get lucky in the first Castillo fight, but which great fighter hasn’t been assisted, at least a little, by Lady Luck during their career – Mayweather was unbeatable.