Legendary trainer Freddie Roach believes Floyd Mayweather Jr shouldn’t have been declared the winner of one fight in particular.
‘Money’ Mayweather announced his retirement from boxing back in 2017, just a short while after he defeated MMA legend Conor McGregor in the 50th and final victory of his outstanding career.
The 48-year-old from Grand Rapids, Michigan won titles across five weight classes during his tenure, defeating the likes of Canelo Alvarez, Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao amongst many others.
Despite the technical brilliance that Mayweather showed consistently throughout his tenure, one of boxing’s greatest ever coaches, Freddie Roach, believes the retired pound-for-pound star actually lost one of his 50 professional contests.
In an interview ahead of Mayweather vs Pacquiao, Roach claimed had already tasted defeat at the hands of Jose Luis Castillo a few years prior.
“Floyd can say what he wants, but I saw Floyd get almost beat by Oscar and when he fought [Jose Luis] Castillo for the first time.
I talked to him about Floyd when we had him in camp with us and he told me Pacquiao is faster and hits way harder than Mayweather. I thought Castillo won their first fight. He put pressure on Floyd and broke him down.”
The undefeated champion made a successful defence of his WBC world lightweight title against Castillo in the summer of 2002, defeating the Mexican via unanimous decision at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Many observers – including Mayweather’s own promoter at the time Bob Arum – believed Castillo should have been declared the winner. An immediate rematch was ordered and Floyd was more convincing in victory.
