Floyd Mayweather is considered one of the greatest, if not the greatest, to ever step into the ring, but even with his 50-0 record, Mayweather was not invincible.
Floyd Mayweather retired in 2017 after a win over Conor McGregor in the UFC star’s boxing debut. He has since participated in multiple exhibition bouts, though he is often levels ahead of his opposition.
Maywweather has had his moments of vulnerability in the ring, such as his first fight with Jose Luis Castillo, who Ricky Hatton knocked out, or Marcos Maidana making a necklace with Mayweather’s tooth.
However, Mayweather’s most challenging moments may well have come in a spar against a future world champion from Texas.
Errol Spence gave Floyd Mayweather a black eye in doghouse spar
Mayweather is no stranger to sparring stories, and it’s well known Paul Spadafora beat Mayweather to the point of exhaustion in a spar earlier in his career.
However, this spar happened a little later, following his win over Miguel Cotto but ahead of his fight with Robert Guerrero. In preparation, Mayweather recruited none other than then 4-0 Errol Spence.
According to talkSport, Mayweather’s teammate and former IBF champion Mickey Bey spoke on the spar:
“When Floyd’s in top shape, it’s hard for anybody to deal with him. But Errol gave him a good sparring session the whole camp.”
Spence had his own words on the spar: “We went like five to ten minutes for one round. So I get out the ring, he gets out the ring and he says, ‘You aight for a b—-.'”
“I said, ‘What? Man you got me messed up.’ I said, ‘Man, put your s— back on. Matter of fact, turn off the clock. We’ll go until somebody drops.'”
There are rumors of Spence handing Mayweather a black eye in this spar, but these are unconfirmed, and Spence has expressed that even he is unsure whether it happened or not.
Errol Spence almost retired Manny Pacquiao
In 2021 Manny Pacquiao announced that he would face Spence in Las Vegas. The fight would be Pacquiao’s first since defeating Keith Thurman, but unfortunately it never came to fruition.
Spence was forced to withdraw after suffering a detached retina, leaving him unable to spar and unable to fight.
Spence was replaced by Yordenis Ugas, who handed Pacquiao his eighth and final defeat, retiring him for good.
The Texan didn’t get to share the ring with the legend, but he did get to face the man who retired him, and beat Ugas by tenth-round TKO.