Floyd Mayweather proved himself to be great in his first fight at 147 pounds, in which he decimated the dream of one durable fighter.
Floyd Mayweather was 34-0 when he stepped up to 147 pounds, having dispatched a boxing icon in his previous outing.
Mayweather outboxed, dominated, and stopped Arturo Gatti in 2005, and set his sights on a new weight class, and on destroying everyone in his path.
Floyd Mayweather ruined Sharmba Mitchell’s boxing goal
In his 147-pound debut, Mayweather faced 56-4 Sharmba Mitchell in 2005.
Mitchell had lost to just one man in the last nine years. He was beaten by Kostya Tszyu in 2001 and then again in 2004.
Mitchell was certainly no pushover, but Mayweather, who was wobbled in front of his father early in his career, once again proved he was not just another fighter, as he outboxed Mitchell en route to a sixth-round stoppage win.
Mitchell had been hoping to get to 60 wins before retiring, and said that this was still his goal after the fight.
According to BoxRec, he said: “I want to get to 60 wins, that’s four more.”
Perhaps the Mayweather loss took something out of him, though, as he never did reach 60 wins.
Mitchell fought twice more after the Mayweather fight, winning one and losing another. His final record stands at 57-6, just three wins shy of his dream.
Floyd Mayweather defeated the man who KO’d his uncle
In just his fifth fight as a pro, Oscar De La Hoya faced Jeff Mayweather, Floyd’s uncle.
Mayweather was 23-2-2 at the time, though De La Hoya, who was just 4-0, didn’t seem intimidated by his record, and stopped Mayweather in the fourth round.
14 years later, De La Hoya came face to face with Jeff’s nephew, Floyd, who paid for an opponent’s funeral once, in an extremely close contest that ended in a split decision win for Mayweather.