Floyd Mayweather retired undefeated and faced a long list of decorated boxers, but behind closed doors, there was one incident that tested ‘Pretty Boy’ more than any other.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. retired with a record of 50-0. He won fifteen world titles across five divisions, and continues to fight in exhibitions to this day.
Mayweather defeated the likes of Ricky Hatton, Marcos Maidana – who kept Mayweather’s tooth on a necklace, and Manny Pacquaio – though Roy Jones Jr. doesn’t think Mayweather deserves credit for beating Pac-Man.
Mayweather revealed that his toughest test came from Emanuel Augustus, an eccentric journeyman who gave even Micky Ward a tough night.
Despite this, it seems Mayweather’s actual toughest test came earlier in his career, and it was not in a professional fight, but in a sparring session.
Paul Spadafora beat Floyd Mayweather until he collapsed in infamous sparring session
Paul Spadafora, a former lightweight world champion and 49-1 fighter, sparred with Mayweather in 1999, when ‘Pretty Boy’ was 22 years old in the Top Rank gym.
Mayweather is reported as taking a beating from Spadafora in the session, which was caught on video, and is said to have collapsed with exhaustion after six rounds.
Mayweather was not in camp for a fight at the time where Spadafora was, though Spadafora’s team insisted they would be able to go toe-to-toe with Mayweather in a professional bout.
The pair would never meet in the professional game, despite rumors circulating following the sparring session.
Who has Floyd Mayweather fought since retirement?
Mayweather retired in 2017 following a TKO victory over Conor McGregor in McGregor’s boxing debut.
Since then, Mayweather has fought in a host of exhibitions, facing a much larger Logan Paul (brother of Jake Paul) in 2021, and son of the famous mob boss, John Gotti III in 2023 and 2024.
He has also reality TV star, Aaron Chalmers, and British YouTuber and brother of KSI, Deji Olatunji.
Mayweather defeated Deji in the sixth round, but Deji took pride in the fact he was able to bruise Mayweather at one point in the fight.
Mayweather has been grilled for taking exhibition fights, considering his final professional fight alone netted over $300 million.