5 BEST Floyd Mayweather Jr. Wins

It’s undeniable – Floyd Mayweather Jr is one of the greatest boxers of all time. As far as we’re concerned, any all-time top ten list can be considered instantly invalid if he isn’t included.

Despite this, he’s also amongst the most controversial fighters in the history of the sport. A fighter subjected to endless debate, the quality of his record is talked about perhaps more than any other boxer not named Muhammad Ali.

So, today, we’ll give out our opinions on who his top five best wins are. We’ll be looking at a variety of factors, including dominance within the fight, the quality of his opponent and how close they were to their respective primes.

Honourable Mentions

It was very difficult to pick out just five victories for this list, so we had to throw out a few honourable mentions who just missed out.

Let’s start with an obvious one – Ricky Hatton. ‘Hitman’ was a tough opponent for almost anyone around that time, given his high-energy style and raucous travelling support. Nevertheless, Floyd found a rhythm and stopped him late on.

Still, one must attach asterisks to this win, given Joe Cortez’s poor performance throughout. He didn’t let Hatton work his way inside at any point, effectively negating his greatest attributes. Scottish pundit Jim Watt derided his performance, describing it as ‘deplorable’ [via Sky Sports].

Mayweather’s brutal, dominant win over Arturo Gatti is also worthy of a mention. Whether Gatti was ever truly an elite fighter is up for debate, but one cannot understate just how much of a beating Floyd dished out to him.

Finally, we’ll also give a shout-out to Mayweather’s win over Oscar De La Hoya in 2007. This one was on a knife edge, even if Floyd edged it on the scorecards – to this day, De La Hoya remains one of the best fighters of all time.

Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez

This is a win that has aged like a fine wine. Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez was still a fresh-faced 23-year-old when he took on Mayweather, perhaps lacking the necessary ring smarts to cope with such an intelligent fighter.

Still, he’d been a professional fighter for eight years at this point and Floyd made him look like an unprepared debutant. Canelo barely landed a glove on Mayweather, his hand speed being well beneath that of his opponent’s.

After 12 rounds of nothing less than a comprehensive schooling, Mayweather was awarded a… majority decision? Yes, we must address the elephant in the room – CJ Ross’ scorecard of 114-114 was an abhorrent disgrace. Perhaps the worst scorecard of all time, Mayweather’s bemused expression upon the announcement said it all.

Manny Pacquiao

Manny Pacquiao is one of the greatest fighters to have ever lived. This much is certainly true – like Floyd, he’s also a shoo-in for the top ten boxers of all time.

Sadly, Pacquiao wasn’t in his prime for this one, having been knocked out by long-time rival Juan Manuel Marquez the year prior. Nevertheless, don’t let this distract you too much – Pac-Man was still, without question, a world-class boxer.

He had periods of success against Floyd, but the unanimous decision in Mayweather’s favour after 12 rounds couldn’t be disputed. A disappointing fight for sure, but a great win for Mayweather.

Jose Luis Castillo II

Floyd’s first fight over Jose Luis Castillo is perhaps the closest of his entire career. Several audiences believe that he shouldn’t have been given the win on the judges’ scorecards – however, the same cannot be said for the rematch.

This was a testament to Mayweather’s greatness – his ability to adapt and adjust is simply unprecedented throughout history. Approaching the fight with more caution than the first encounter, not allowing Castillo to find a rhythm with his legendary body attack, Floyd dictated the action and frustrated the Mexican.

Oddly enough, the judges’ scorecards were actually closer in this fight than they were in the first one, despite handing Mayweather another unanimous decision. You just can’t expect them to get anything right, can you?

Miguel Cotto

When people say that Mayweather never defeated a truly elite fighter in their prime, we always point to this bout. Miguel Cotto was 31, fighting very close to the peak of his powers when he took on Floyd in 2012.

This was a hard fight for Mayweather, conceding a few rounds and ending the contest with a bloodied nose, but he still emerged victorious with at least eight rounds under his belt. At this point in his career, Cotto was a tough opponent for just about anyone at 154lbs across history.

It’s also worth mentioning that Floyd wasn’t in his prime for this fight. At 35 years of age, he was four years older than Cotto, yet still looked like the fresher man throughout.

Diego Corrales

Perhaps the only win on Mayweather’s resume that contains zero caveats, his dominant win over Diego Corrales was Floyd at his brilliant best.

When Mayweather took on ‘Chico’, he was 33-0. This was not the Corrales who would battle through hellish wars with the aforementioned Castillo – this was an elite fighter in his fighting prime.

Still, despite being by far the smaller man, Mayweather dropped him five times in a surgical, violent display of superiority. Using his sharp left hook to great effect and often leading with the straight right hand, he brutalised his opponent in deadly fashion.