As oft repeated, boxing is the most unpredictable sport, so it is no surprise that fighters who finish their careers as undefeated world champions are a rarity. Rocky Marciano did so in 1956 but, at the time of writing, the retired former champion who holds the record for the most fights without losing is Floyd Mayweather Jr., who retired, for the third time, in 2017 with a career record of 50-0-0.
In fact, Mayweather Jr., who turned 43 in February, 2020, is threatening to come out of retirement yet again, if his Instagram feed is to be believed. He retired for the first time in 2007, before coming back, with no little success, in 2009, and retiring again, with a career record of 49-0-0, in 2015. In 2017, Mayweather Jr. was tempted out of retirement, once again, for a one-off contest, aptly dubbed ‘The Money Fight’, against Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight Champion, Conor McGregor at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada. Mayweather Jr. won, courtesy of a tenth round technical knockout, taking his career record to 50-0-0, and banking $275, in the process, but looked poor against a highly inexperienced opponent.
Mayweather Jr. Has been widely criticised for ‘diluting’ his legacy; in his heyday, he won fifteen major world titles, in five weight divisions – super featherweight, lightweight, super lightweight, welterweight and light middleweight – and, granted his recent insistence that he is retired from boxing and would only consider ‘entertainment’ fights in future, he may be boasting that he is ‘The Best Ever’ for a while longer.
Watch all of Floyd Mayweathers career knock outs