Floyd Mayweather Jr is unquestionably one of the greatest fighters of the last two decades.
The retired five-division world champion had an exceptional professional career, which saw him remain unbeaten for the duration, defeating the likes of Canelo Alvarez, Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao along the way.
‘Money’ Mayweather won all 50 of his bouts, with his 50th and final victory coming in August 2017 when he stopped MMA superstar Conor McGregor in the tenth round of their monumental crossover fight at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Despite being such a dominant force for the majority of his tenure, Mayweather’s father, Floyd Sr, who trained his son for long periods of his career, believes Jr should not have been declared the winner when he fought ‘The Golden Boy’, Oscar De La Hoya.
Speaking to HBO’s Larry Merchant, Mayweather Sr claimed Hall of Famer, De La Hoya, should have been given the nod when he faced his son back in May 2007, in a bout that was billed as ‘The World Awaits’.
“I’m just gonna be honest with you, man. If you want to call fights by scoring, points system, who’s throwing more punches, you had to give it to Oscar. If you’re just going on a guy hitting a guy with single shots, you have to give it to my son.
“My son had good defence, he caught a lot of punches with his shoulder and his arm, but it’s still about a guy throwing punches. If he touches you, he’s scoring … I thought the fight was a close fight, it’s just where the point system goes. If you look at the point system, who’s touching who the most … You’re gonna have to give it to Oscar if you’re going by point system.”
After 12 competitive rounds, Mayweather Jr was declared the winner via split decision to capture De La Hoya’s WBC light-middleweight title when they locked horns 18-years ago. There had been talks of a rematch between the pair, although a second encounter never came to fruition, much to the disappointment of boxing fans around the globe.
