Floyd Mayweather Jr shared the ring with many legendary fighters during his career, but gave a surprising answer when naming his toughest ever opponent.
‘Money’ Mayweather entered the paid ranks as a 19-year-old back in 1996, just a few months on from his success at the Olympic Games in Atlanta where he walked away from with a featherweight bronze medal.
The Michigan-native would go on to become the biggest name in the sport and win world titles in no less than five weight divisions before his retirement, defeating the likes of Canelo Alvarez, Shane Mosley, Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao amongst many others.
Mayweather drew the curtain on his accomplished career just a short while after he defeated MMA fighter Conor McGregor in their huge crossover bout in August 2017, walking away from the sport with an unblemished record of 50-0.
In a surprising admission whilst speaking to Fight Hub TV, Mayweather revealed Emanuel Augustus as his toughest ever opponent, as he claims his countryman was ‘unbelievable’.
“Emanuel Augustus was my toughest opponent. His record didn’t show his skill-set, but the guy was unbelievable.”
Mayweather faced Augustus during the earlier stages of his professional career, stopping his rival in the penultimate round of their non-title clash at the Cobo Hall in Detroit back in October of 2000.
Augustus would go on to share the ring with a number of notable opponents before his career came to an end, including former WBO light-welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov and John John Molina, walking away from the sport with a record of 38-34-6.
