Floyd Mayweather Jr. flashed his virtuoso defense and surgeon-like punching while dominating the previously undefeated Saul "Canelo" Alvarez on Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
At 36 years old, Mayweather authored one of the great performances of his legendary career, and that's not an easy list to crack.
While running his record to 45-0, Mayweather's resume is full of amazing performances. While many of these have come against opponents that aren't worth mentioning here, there are also plenty of top boxers and future Hall of Famers among his list of victims.
So check out where Mayweather's win over Alvarez falls among the greatest performances of Money's career.
No. 5: TKO in Round 8 Over Genaro Hernandez on October 3, 1998
Genaro Hernandez is largely a forgotten champion, and he was a vastly underrated one. He only suffered two losses in his career. One to Money and one to Oscar De La Hoya.
In this fight, he took on an up-and-coming Mayweather and was dominated.
Mayweather entered this fight at 17-0. He left it at 18-0 and forced the rest of the boxing world to take notice.
Mayweather used his speed and defense to dismantle Hernandez, and he won the Lineal and WBC Super Featherweight titles.
No. 4: Majority Decision Over Canelo Alvarez on September 14, 2013
Fighting at a 152-pound catchweight, Money entered this fight facing concerns of a size and strength disadvantage. By the time the two undefeated fighters entered the ring, Canelo was obviously heavier than Mayweather, and the 23-year-old Mexican had spent his entire career proving his power while wracking up 30 knockouts.
Alvarez's power was all but nullified in this fight. Floyd used his shoulder roll brilliantly and looked amazing on his feet.
He then was free to pick apart Canelo with pot shots and everything else he wanted to throw. This fight never felt in doubt, and the majority decision was a complete mockery of Money's dominance.
No. 3: TKO in Round 10 Over Ricky Hatton on December 8, 2007
Ricky Hatton's legacy certainly diminished late in his career, but Mayweather played a big role in that.
Hatton entered this fight at 43-0 and had been taunting Mayweather.
Floyd not only had too much speed and smarts for Hatton but also too much strength. Mayweather caught Hatton with a check left hook in the 10th that gave us all a fairly unforgettable highlight.
Mayweather lured Hatton into the ropes and exposed him with the brilliant counterpunch. It was vintage Mayweather.
No. 2: Unanimous Decision Over Juan Manuel Marquez on September 9, 2009
Taking on his first fight in nearly two years, Mayweather showed no signs of rust. Battling the rival (Marquez) of his nemesis (Manny Pacquiao), Mayweather dominated the counterpunching Marquez in a way that Pac-man never could.
In just the second round, Mayweather caught and dropped Marquez with a left hook. While he could have kept pressing and gone for the stoppage, Mayweather controlled the fight. He was barely touched as the remainder of this bout played out.
It was a nearly flawless win over one of the best fighters of his generation.
No. 1: TKO in Round 10 Over Diego Corrales on January 1, 2001
Fighting at 130 pounds, Diego Corrales had appeared completely unbeatable. He entered this fight with a 33-0 record with 28 of those wins coming via a knockout.
Corrales tried for another knockout in this fight, but he wasn't even close. Corrales was lucky to land a punch while Money was landing everything he threw.
In the end, it led to Mayweather sending Corrales to the canvas five times and that led to his corner throwing in the towel.
Read more Boxing news on BleacherReport.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment