Floyd Mayweather had over 25 world title fights but says one man stood out as the best he faced

Floyd Mayweather shared the ring with a number of boxing icons throughout his illustrious career.

Mayweather is widely regarded as one of the greatest fighters of all time, hanging up his gloves with a perfect unbeaten record of 50-0.

He became a five-division world champion from super-featherweight to light middleweight during that time, defeating legends such as Manny Pacquiao, Oscar De La Hoya and Canelo Alvarez over the years.

JUST IN: Terence Crawford Reacts Savagely After Devin Haney’s Big Fight o

After a total of 26 world title fights, one man stands out for Mayweather as the best he ever fought, telling the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast that Pacquiao holds that honour.

“The best fighter I ever fought probably was Manny Pacquiao.

It’s because of his movement. He’s a hell of a fighter, and I can see why he won so many fights, and I can see why he’s going down as a Hall of Famer. It’s just certain moves he makes.”

After years of speculation, Mayweather and Pacquiao finally fought back in May 2015, with the American claiming a unanimous decision victory.

While ‘Pac-Man’ may have come up short in that bout, it is clear to see why Mayweather views the Filipino legend as his greatest ever opponent, as Pacquiao picked up world honours in a record eight divisions during his career.

He made a sensational return to the sport back in July at the age of 46 when he fought to a draw with WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios, and has actually been linked to a shock rematch against Mayweather in recent weeks.

Floyd Mayweather was instantly criticized for pricing himself out of big fights after dismantling veteran

On this day in 2005, Floyd Mayweather faced criticism before he went on to do exactly what he had said.

Mayweather could be returning to the ring to face Manny Pacquiao in a rematch to secure another huge payday before hanging his gloves up for good.

While ‘Money’ competed against some all-time greats in his career, he was still criticized for the way that his career played out.

JUST IN: ‘I never felt that bad’: Canelo names the opponent whose power wa

There were questions as to whether Mayweather avoided certain fighters altogether or waited until the odds were in his favor before taking on significant challenges.

This became a talking point after he stepped in the ring with a veteran that he beat in convincing fashion despite being linked with some big names.

Floyd Mayweather fought Sharmba Mitchell in 2005 after being linked with huge fights

Long before Floyd Mayweather would make fortunes in one-sided exhibition bouts, he made it look easy when stepping in the ring on November 19 of 2005.

The 34-0 fighter had been linked to bouts with the likes of Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, Zab Judah, Shane Mosley, and Antonio Margarito but didn’t face off with any of them at this stage.

Instead, he received criticism for taking on 35-year-old veteran Sharmba Mitchell, who he dispatched in six rounds in unsurprising fashion.

Immediately after the bout, HBO’s Larry Merchant questioned whether Mayweather’s demands were preventing him from competing against other top names.

“I know you say this but it appears that when you get below that, what you’re saying is, ‘I’ll fight him if I get 2/3 or 3/4 of the money and they’re not going to give you that,” Merchant said in the post-fight interview.”

“I’m not here to talk about money,” Mayweather responded. “I’m here to talk about fighting the best guys out there and right now, Zab is a good fighter. That’s a good fight for me. ‘Winky’ Wright is a good fight for me. There’s a lot of big names. Oscar De La Hoya this summer. So there’s a lot of fights out there.”

As Mayweather left the ring, Merchant went on to summarize what had just taken place.

“Just a final thought, Floyd’s probably going to have to come down a little bit in his expectations of what it’s going to take to make some of those fights. He does want the money as well as the fights and that ain’t going to work.”

Floyd Mayweather’s potential drawback is what made him the most financially successful boxer of all time

While he never did fight Ronald Wright or Antonio Margarito, Mayweather did go on to tick the other names off his list in the coming years.

His very next outing came against Zab Judah before he went on to beat Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton in 2007, Shane Moseley in 2010, and Miguel Cotto in 2012.

By the time that he’d beaten a few of those names, Mayweather pricing himself out of big matchups was no longer considered to be an issue because he often held more bargaining power, meaning he could make financial demands.

The approach that could have hindered his career ended up being the reason why he’s earned more money from boxing than any other fighter.

Floyd Mayweather says ‘unbelievable’ fighter has been forgotten by UK fans

The debate for the greatest British fighter of all time is one that remains undecided, but Floyd Mayweather has thrown one name into mix, believing that there is a fighter whom many fans overlook.

When quizzed on the hot topic, British fight fans are often split between Lennox Lewis, who became the undisputed heavyweight champion in a competitive era, and super-middleweight legend, Joe Calzaghe, who retired undefeated.

READ: Anthony Joshua makes Netflix request hours after signing $65millio

Meanwhile, boxing historians often point to the earlier eras of the 20th century, when Ted Kid Lewis and Randolph Turpin successfully represented the United Kingdom on the world stage.

Yet, in a clip captured by Seconds Out, Mayweather paid respect to featherweight icon Naseem Hamed, who dominated the 126lb division during the 1990’s and brought attention to a lesser-watched division with his unique and exciting style of fighting.

“Prince Naseem Hamed – he doesn’t get the props that he truly deserves. We still speak on a regular basis, [he was] one hell of a showman and a lot of people in the U.K. forget about him.

“We need to give him his flowers, [he was] unbelievable. One of the best fighters to come from the U.K. – if not the best.”

It’s clear to see why Mayweather feels that way, as Naseem Hamed retired with a record of 36-1 in 2002 and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2015.

While it may be over two decades since ‘Prince Naz’ hung up the gloves, the Hamed name is still present in boxing through his son, Aadam Hamed, who boasts a 6-0 professional record.

Floyd Mayweather Is Relieved He Never Shared The Ring With One Champion

Undefeated boxing icon Floyd Mayweather recently revealed his relief at dodging a showdown with one former world champion in particular

‘Money’ Mayweather crossed paths with many of the greatest fighters of his generation during his glittering professional career, becoming a world champion in no less than five weight classes along the way.

The Michigan-native walked away from the sport with an unblemished record of 50-0 to his name, defeating the likes of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, Shane Mosley, Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao to name just a few.

JUST IN: Anthony Joshua Promoter Eddie Hearn Finally Comments on Jake Paul Fight

One man that Mayweather did not end up crossing paths with during his career was three-time welterweight champion Antonio Margarito, who became the subject of a controversial situation involving his hand wraps ahead of his 2009 showdown with Mosley.

In a resurfaced interview with Fight Hype, Mayweather admitted that he was relieved to have not faced Margarito during his tenure, although he claims that he was ‘never afraid’ of ‘The Tijuana Tornado’.

“Antonio Margarito said over and over again that I was afraid of him. He was pressing, and he wanted to fight so badly, because he was beating fighters with loaded gloves (with ‘casts’), so I’m glad God didn’t let that fight happen. Because you don’t know what kind of effect it would have had on me.

“Those (punches) would have wreaked havoc after my boxing career was over. He could have ended up killing me in the ring, you don’t know what could happen. So sometimes you have certain signals (to face fighters or not), I was never afraid of him and at that particular moment it didn’t make sense for us to fight.”

Whilst he enjoyed considerable success during his career, where he became a world welterweight champion several times, Margarito found himself a villain when he was caught using illegal hand wraps before his world title defence against Mosley in 2009.

Margarito would go on to suffer a ninth round stoppage defeat to ‘Sugar Shane’ following this, surrendering his WBA welterweight title at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Early on in his boxing career, Floyd Mayweather was met with ‘The Drunken Master’, who Mayweather went on to claim was his toughest opponent ever.

Throughout his incredible career in boxing, Floyd Mayweather shared the ring with several all-time greats, including the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Oscar De La Hoya, and even Canelo Alvarez.

However, having faced a who’s who of boxing royalty, one fighter he shared the ring with near the beginning of his career stood out to him.

And that is the famous ‘Drunken Master’, Emanuel Augustus, who Mayweather shared the ring with on October 21, 2000, when he was a budding star in the sport.

JUST IN: Heavyweight Who Knocked Out Wilder ‘Waiting’ On Anthony Joshu

In October 1998, Mayweather kicked off the start of his career as a champion when he dominated Genaro Hernandez to become the WBC super featherweight champion at just 21 years old.

After five incredibly impressive title defenses, in 2000 he was matched up against Emanuel Augustus, who was widely regarded as a solid test for Mayweather at that stage in his career.

Although at the time of the fight Augustus was going into it with a record of 22-16-4, he was deemed to be on the wrong end of some extremely questionable decisions on several occasions.

Early into the fight, the younger Mayweather looked to utilise his clear speed advantage, and was working on the body of the 25-year-old.

Augustus’ ‘drunken’ style didn’t prove difficult for Floyd early in the fight as the young star managed to land heavy shots on the body and head of his opponent, despite his awkward showboating style.

However, every time Mayweather seemingly landed a big shot, he was greeted with a smile from his opponent. And at the end of round one during a brief stare down, ‘The Drunken Master’ blew Mayweather a kiss, which visibly fired him up.

Despite controlling the majority of the fight, Mayweather’s nose was bloodied up by the veteran during some tough exchanges.

And then in round nine after a back-and-forth affair that was dominated by Mayweather for the large part, Augustus’ team threw in the towel.

Floyd “Money” Mayweather became famous for being one of the greatest boxers of his generation.

However, his notoriety has continued despite retiring in 2017 because of his penchant for living a lavish lifestyle, which always keeps him in the headlines.

Mayweather’s affinity for nightclubs and Las Vegas parties is well-documented at this point. And during an October 16 episode of UFC legend Daniel Cormier’s podcast, former UFC bantamweight champion and current featherweight fighter Aljamain Sterling shared a story from the past where he and Mayweather almost got into an altercation because of Mayweather’s interest in Sterling’s then-girlfriend and current wife.

READ: Why Mike Tyson is motivated to ‘do better’ against Floyd Mayweath

Aljamain Sterling Shares Floyd Mayweather Club Story Involving Girlfriend

“It’s a real situation that happened,” Sterling said when Cormier asked him about Mayweather trying to take his girlfriend (now wife), Rebecca, at a club in Las Vegas. “2016, I think it was. I was just starting, I was undefeated, on my second contract for the UFC. So I’m feeling good.

“[Mayweather] is pointing to [Rebecca] and our friend at the time. They come over, he sent somebody up, she comes, she’s telling me, ‘Mayweather was just pointing at us, and was telling us to [come over].’ I’m like, ‘So what does that mean?'”

Cormier then interrupted by saying Sterling could beat Mayweather up in an actual fight because he could take him down, and Sterling said, “In an actual fight, yes.” Then, going back to the story, Sterling continued, “In the moment, I was kind of a young, hotheaded kid, so I’m thinking a couple things. I’m like, ‘If Shorty goes down there, it’s [over]. Signed, sealed, delivered.”

“Mayweather sent somebody up, I go over to them, I talk to them, I’m like ‘Hey, man. I know how this goes. You’re trying to tell me to bring her down. Nah, it don’t work like that,'” Sterling continued.

“They go back, they come back again, trying to recruit both of us now. And they’re like, ‘[Mayweather] said you could come down, too.’ I’m like, ‘Nah. Nah. I’ve seen this movie before. We go down together, she goes in, they try to stop me, and it’s gonna be an issue, because I ain’t gonna be made to look like no fool,” he added.

“I told them to tell [Mayweather], ‘He’s undefeated in boxing. I’m undefeated in MMA. If he wants to figure out what sport is better, we can find out today.'”

Clearly Sterling was willing to stand his ground. But it’s probably for the best for both sides that this situation was de-escalated before it became physical.