49 fights 49 victories. Undefeated world boxing champions. Floyd Mayweather now

A record in professional boxing is always looked at, especially when the fan knows nothing about the boxer and judges him solely based on the numbers on his record. Very often, records do not correspond to the level of its owner, but, nevertheless, the magic of numbers is fascinating and even if the guy is nothing special, but he has some kind of interesting record, then some attention will be focused on him.

We present to your attention such a pound-for-pound record in the history of professional boxing.

1. Vaenhong Menayothin

Record: 51-0, 18 KOs

Years of performance: 2007-

Most recently, on August 29, Waenkhong Menayothin, also known as Chayaphon Moonsri, set a new record, achieving his 51st win with zero defeats and draws, thereby becoming the sole leader in this indicator. Menayothin defended his WBC minimumweight title for the 10th time and it looks like the 32-year-old Thai won't stop there.

2. Floyd Mayweather

Record: 50-0, 27 KOs

Years of performance: 1996-2017

From childhood, Floyd was a perfectionist. “I went to school and there I was only thinking about how to avoid making mistakes in the gym that evening,” recalled Mayweather, who in 50 fights in the professional ring went from world champion in the super lightweight to world champion in the first middleweight He actually made few mistakes in the ring during his career. However, his 50th anniversary victory was a farce, as he entered the ring against MMA fighter Conor McGregor, who had no competitive boxing experience at all.

3. Rocky Marciano

Record: 49-0, 43 KOs

Years of performance: 1947-1955

Marciano only took up boxing at the age of 23, having failed to make a career as a baseball player, and although he was not at all tall for a heavyweight (179 cm), he managed to work his way to the top with his granite chin, huge heart and his right hand Suzy Q He retired undefeated, the reason for his departure, according to his brother Peter, being that "he had reached such a height that he no longer had the motivation to train the way he used to."

4. Ricardo Lopez

Record: 51-0-1, 38 KOs

Years of performance: 1985-2001

Ricardo Lopez was a lanky puncher from Mexico who won 26 title bouts at strawweight and junior flyweight. At the same time, “El Finito” never lost amateur fights.

5. Joe Calzaghe

Record: 46-0, 32 KOs

Years of performance: 1993-2008

In the summer of 1990, a teenage Calzaghe burst into tears after losing in the quarter-finals of the European junior champion in Prague. He swore that he would never lose again and kept his word. He was the world super middleweight champion for more than ten years. The zero in the defeat column meant a lot to the Welsh left-hander.

The best boxer in all weight categories and the most expensive fighter in the ring: Floyd Mayweather repeated the incredible record of Rocky Marciano, leaving the canvas as an absolute king. Luck? No, this is definitely not about him. Absolute willpower and the ability to work in any conditions made Floyd who he is. Having risen from the very bottom, going through the slums and selling illegal drugs on the streets, he became living proof that perseverance can lead a person to any height.

Thanks grandma

Mayweather was born a boxer and the whole family knew this very well. His own grandmother gave him advice to take up sports closely, although at that time the family desperately needed money. For some time, Floyd combined training with selling illegal drugs on the streets: one of the best boxers in history could well have ended his career on a prison bunk.

Handsome

In the amateur team, Floyd had a brilliant series, finishing 96 matches out of 100 with a victory. The boxers from the team nicknamed the guy Pretty Boy, handsome: Floyd rarely came from the ring with bruises and injuries. At the 1996 American Olympics, Mayweather lost the semifinals to Seraphim Todorov, but the team still received a bronze medal. After this fight, Floyd decided to go into professional boxing.

Secret of success

Mayweather never lost again. Floyd’s ability to fight at high speed and competent, very well-thought-out tactics turned out to be too much for anyone in the major league. Arthur Gatti, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton - boxing legends gave up under Handsome's blows one after another.

Money bag

Money flowed like a river. For one fight, Mayweather could get five million dollars. Over time, the boxer changed his nickname “Handsome” to “Money”, The Money. Admittedly, Floyd had every reason to change his name, because he still remains the highest paid boxer in the world.

Problems with law

No amount of money helped Mayweather get out of a domestic violence charge. For severely beating his girlfriend, the athlete received two months in solitary confinement. However, his imprisonment had no effect on Floyd’s temperament and character.

Businessman from the ring

Despite all the ostentation with money (and Floyd loves to carry literally suitcases of cash with him), Mayweather knows very well how to manage his income. Two boxing academies, a line of clothing and expensive accessories, and even its own strip club.

Boxing vs MMA Mayweather's last fight was with Andre Berto. 49 wins, 0 losses. An exact repetition of the record of the legendary Marciano. And now, two years after the official retirement, Floyd decided to return and make it as spectacular as possible. A fight with an MMA professional - on August 26, one of the most anticipated fights of the century will take place.

When the outcome is known before the fight

The departure of legends from sports is usually accompanied by colossal excitement, touching ceremonies, memories and stingy male tears. It’s good if the main character pleases the audience with his performance, but even if he fails, no one will throw a stone at him. Floyd Mayweather's retirement. The first thing that caught your eye was more than three thousand empty seats at the legendary MGM Grand Arena. For the remaining seats, according to rumors, tickets were distributed almost for nothing, and the results of pay-per-view sales may well not recoup Mayweather’s impressive 24 million fee. This can largely be explained by the disappointment from the previous presentation of the hero. The fight with Manny Pacquiao in a beautiful and expensive package turned out to be a spectacle, interesting for specialists, but boring for ordinary people.

The fight did not have any particular intrigue, because Berto’s best years were in the past and he did not pose a serious threat to Mayweather. Not only the result was known in advance, but also exactly how the battle would take place. If Floyd wanted to put on a last show, he would choose as his opponent not a ram to the slaughter, but a more dangerous boxer, be it Gennady Golovkin, Terence Crawford or, at worst, Amir Khan. But Berto’s choice also predetermined Mayweather Jr.’s further risk-free strategy, which made the respectable audience in the hall’s cheekbones ache. Handsome was a thing of the past, and the current nickname Money was much more in line with the spirit of modern Mayweather.

From the first round, Floyd established control over his opponent with a jab, and at the end of the opening three minutes, he unloaded the clip on the opponent’s body, and then added a left hook. Berto tried to clinch, but received blows to the body and on the way out. Mayweather hardly invested in his attacks, although in the second round he shook his opponent’s head with a jab. Berto hit much more, but only a few hits reached the target. Short blows from Mayweather's left cooled the opponent's offensive impulse in the third round. After another combination, Berto Mayweather slipped and touched the floor with his glove, but there was no question of opening an account.

Bullying of opponents and spectators

The fourth round turned out to be the liveliest and one of the best performed by Mayweather. First, in his usual style, he failed all of his opponent’s attacks, and then punished Berto with a powerful right cross. It seemed that if he wanted, Floyd could put the squeeze on him, but he generously allowed him to sit out in the clinch and even finish the round on the attack. Berto entered the fifth round as a decisive and last fight. At first, he managed to close the distance and even cause Mayweather some discomfort. At the beginning of the sixth round, Floyd found himself squeezed in a corner, but came out of it with minimal losses, after which he punished the presumptuous Berto several times with right blows.

And in the seventh round something happened that at least somehow went beyond the pre-written script. Berto caught Mayweather with a great left hook and even won the only round in this fight, but this was only a splash, not a turning point. In the next three minutes, Floyd returned the fight to a calm direction, carried out several successful combinations and even managed to fool around when Berto once again pinned him in the corner and unsuccessfully stormed the champion’s defense.

In the end, Mayweather slightly injured his left hand, but this did not affect the course of the fight. The champion began to move more and avoid his opponent’s attacks, and when it was necessary to cool his ardor, he more often used his right hand. After a small verbal altercation in the tenth round, the referee was forced to intervene, reminding the boxers that they were not at the market. However, Mayweather continued to mock his opponent, who could not hit him. During the last seconds of his time in the ring, Floyd mocked not only his opponent, but also the audience, which he, by and large, did not care about. As the crowd booed, he ran around the ring and teased Berto.

"I am the best"

The judges predictably gave the victory to Mayweather and left him the WBC and WBA belts that were at stake, with the score 117-111 - a clear advance for Berto. Dry statistical numbers recorded 232 accurate strikes from Mayweather out of 410 and only 83 from Berto out of 495.

Attack efficiency below 17 percent is unprecedented for combat at this level. , Floyd decided to stop - and, it seems, really forever.

He does not foresee any problems with money in the near future, and even the most naive idealists cannot imagine that after the fight with Pacquiao someone will make Floyd an offer that he cannot refuse. In addition, Mayweather’s calculating style, which has become completely boring in recent fights, also suggests that the great champion is tired of boxing and is unlikely to enter the ring at the turn of his fortieth birthday. “This was my last fight,” Mayweather said confidently. I am financially stable and satisfied with my great career. Someday there will be a new Floyd Mayweather. I would like to spend more time with my family and leave the sport with all the comforts. I don't need to prove anything to anyone. I am the best".

In this article we will look at 15 world champions who retired undefeated. 15 undefeated professional boxers in the history of boxing.

The absence of defeats is not always a sign of a high level boxer. However, in the history of professional boxing there have been fighters who achieved the title of world champion and completed their careers without defeat. So, 15 undefeated professional boxers (years of title ownership are indicated in brackets):

1. Jack McAuliffe. Country: Ireland. Record: 28(20)-0-10. Absolute world lightweight champion (1886-1893).
2. Jimmy Barry. Country: USA. Record: 58(39)-0-10. Absolute world champion in bantamweight (1894-1899).
3. . Country: USA. Record: 49(43)-0-0. Absolute world heavyweight champion (1952-1956).
4. Terry Marsh. Country: England. Record: 26(10)-0-1. IBF world champion in light heavyweight (1987).
5. Pichit Sitbangprachan. Country: Thailand. Record: 24(18)-0-0. IBF world flyweight champion (1992-1994).
6. Kim Ji Won. Country: South Korea. Record: 16(7)-0-2. World champion in the second bantamweight according to IBF (1985-1986).
7. Ricardo Lopez. Country: Mexico. Record: 51(38)-0-1. World champion in the minimum weight according to the WBC (1990-1998), WBO (1997-1998), WBA (1998), in the first flyweight according to the IBF (1999-2002).
8. Mihai Leu. Country: Romania. Record: 28(10)-0-0. WBO world welterweight champion (1997).
9. Sven Ottke. Country: Germany. Record: 34(6)-0-0. World super middleweight champion according to IBF (1998-2004), WBA (2003-2004).
10. Harry Simon. Country: Namibia. Record: 31(23)-0-0. World champion in junior middleweight according to WBO (1998-2001), middleweight according to WBO (2002).
11. Joe Calzaghe. Country: Wales. Record: 46(32)-0-0. World super middleweight champion according to WBO (1997-2008), IBF (2006), WBA and WBC (2007-2008).
12. Edwin Valero. Country: Venezuela. Record: 27(27)-0-0. World champion in the second featherweight version of the WBA (2006-2008), lightweight champion of the WBC version (2009-2010).
13. Dmitry Pirog. Country Russia. Record: 20(15)-0-0. World middleweight champion according to WBO (2010-2012).
14. Andre Ward. Country: USA. Record: 32(16)-0-0. World champion in super middleweight according to WBA (2009-2015), WBC (2011-2015), light heavyweight according to WBA, WBO and IBF (2016-2017).
15. Floyd Mayweather. Country: USA. Record: 50(27)-0-0. World champion in WBC super featherweight (1998-2002), WBC lightweight (2002-2004), WBC super welterweight (2004-2005), WBA welterweight and WBC (2006-2008, 2011-2015), IBF (2006), junior middleweight according to WBA (2015-2017), WBC (2007, 2015-2017).

15 world champions who finished their careers without defeat. All boxers on the list have different levels of boxing and performed in different eras of boxing history. This fact only emphasizes the thesis of the beginning of the article - the absence of defeats is not a criterion for a fighter’s class. Some boxers had a total of more than 20 title defenses (Floyd Mayweather, Sven Ottke, Ricardo Lopez, Joe Calzaghe) and performed at a high level for a long time, and some had less than 4 (Dmitry Pirog, Terry Marsh, Mihai Leu) and also kept a zero in the defeats and for various reasons left the ring undefeated. The criterion for a high-class boxer is ALWAYS the level of opposition he beats. This is an axiom for analyzing an athlete in professional and amateur boxing. The list of 15 undefeated professional boxers in the entire history of boxing may be interesting solely from the standpoint of assessing each individual fighter. Leaving the ring on time is an important quality." pro"(for example, Joe Calzaghe and Ricardo Lopez). However, in analyzing the career of any athlete, more than one cherished" zero"in the defeat column, how many names are on the list of fighters he defeated.