Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Past Fighters He Most Resembles

Throughout Floyd Mayweather’s career he’s exuded both an air of arrogance, confidence and everything in between. There are, however, a few fighters from the past that resemble the present Mayweather.

Mayweather is by no means the first, and he most definitely won’t be the last, to strut his stuff both inside and outside of the ring.

For some reason, those fighters that step into the four-squared ring to shed their blood, sweat and tears at the public’s leisure, as well as for their own monetary and legacy pleasure, bear certain traits.

Those characteristics akin to arrogance, confidence, cockiness and even violence are sometimes part and parcel of their pugilistic stratosphere.

Their personas, rightly or wrongly, are indicative of what makes them who they are and how they perform in the ring—a prize-fighters generic makeup, if you want to call it that.

And Mayweather is no different.

Let’s take a look at some of those fighters from the past that mirror the contemporaneous Mayweather.

Floyd Mayweather, Sr.

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree—one look at Mayweather, Sr. and you know more or less that his son is the famous pound-for-pound king “Money May.”

The similarities don’t end there—Mayweather, Sr. also known as “Joy” fought in the 70’s and 80’s and had the displeasure of being knocked out by Hall of Famer Sugar Ray Leonard (not one of the similarities).

Joy is also the current UBF (Universal Boxing Federation) exhibition world champion after defeating 23-year-old Charlie Zelenoff on Nov. 9, 2011.

He achieved that after a 21-year absence from the ring, and at 61 years and 22 days is the oldest champion ever—pros, amateurs and exhibitions included.

The most Money May has been away from boxing is 21-months.

On his return, he defeated former three-division champion Juan Manuel Márquez in a non-titled match.

Diego Corrales

Both Mayweather and Diego Corrales won world titles at a fairly young age—21 and 22, respectively.

The former would go on to be a five-division world champion, while “Chico” would win world championships in two divisions before his untimely death back in May of 2007.

It was Mayweather who handed Corrales his first professional defeat via 10th-round TKO in 2001.

Not so long after that defeat, Corrales was convicted and jailed for spouse abuse.

He spent 14 months in a federal prison.

At present Mayweather finds himself in a similar situation—accused of domestic violence.

Prince Naseem Hamed

Prince Naseem Hamed in some respects was the British version of Mayweather—loud, rash, brash and with an ego that could surpass even Mayweather’s.

As with Mayweather, Hamed would sometimes toy, taunt and even embarrass his opponents.

His entrance to the ring accompanied by a flashy display of pyrotechnics on any given occasion could last up to 20 minutes or more.

Like Hamed before him, “Money” is an entertainer—“My main thing is to entertain—in the ring and outside of the ring,” Mayweather said.”

In Hamed’s penultimate fight with Marco Antonio Barrera in 2001 he grabbed the microphone during the introduction phase and said—“you will all serve Allah.”

Needless to say, it was the “Baby-Faced Assassin” that Hamed served that night.

Mike Tyson

At just 20, Mike Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in the history of the sport when he dispatched then-WBC heavyweight king Trevor Berbick in the second round of their 1986 encounter.

The self-proclaimed “Baddest Man on the Planet” would go on to unify the heavyweight titles, with wins over James “Bonecrusher” Smith and Tony “TNT” Tucker.

Tyson’s life in and out of the ring was the stuff of fairy tales and nightmares—married, accused of assaulting his then-wife Robin Givens and then divorced.

He was also promiscuous; something that would later land him a six-year stretch (reduced to three) in prison.

More than anything, Tyson loved the good life—when he was at the top of his game he spent money like it was going out of fashion.

There were the fleet of cars, the jewellery and all the trappings of success synonymous with a champion such as Tyson.

Mayweather’s present lifestyle pales into significance to that of Tyson at his peak.

Nevertheless, he still gives “Iron Mike” a run for his money when it comes to ostentation—burning dollar bills, the bling, the cars and anything that money can buy.

Muhammad Ali

Prior to Mayweather’s fight with Victor Ortiz on Sep. 17, he had this to say:

“I feel great," he reports. Then he adds with a chuckle: "Maybe that’s because I am the greatest.”

Muhammad Ali, on defeating Sonny Liston in 1964 to capture the world’s heavyweight title, proclaimed to the world that he was the greatest.

Ali had a mouth on him, hence the sobriquet “The Louisville Lip.”

Like Ali, Mayweather hasn’t been afraid to air his personal views regardless of the consequences.

Sugar Ray Robinson

Sugar Ray Robinson was boxing's original Mr. Showtime, everyone else that followed was a caricature of the “Sugar,” including Muhammad Ali and the latest addition to the family of boxing's showbiz “Money May.”

Robinson loved the limelight as much as Mayweather does now.

After his bout with Joey Maxim in June of 1952, he headed to France to try his hand at showbiz—tap dancing, singing and living the life of a movie star.

Nonetheless, due to his business hitting hard times and his failing showbiz career he returned from his three-year hiatus to take on and defeated Joe Rindone in a non-title bout in 1955.

The same year he knocked out Bobo Olson to capture the world middleweight title.

Mayweather has been known to take time off to pursue other activities.

After he defeated Oscar De La Hoya in May of 2007 to capture the WBC super welterweight title he went into semi-retirement.

During that period he had a stint on Dancing with the Stars. It was also at that time that he signed a deal to fight British boxer Ricky Hatton.

Mayweather was doing two things at once—dancing as well as training for his upcoming fight.

Once he was eliminated from the show he went on to defeat “The Hitman.”

He managed all that in the space of seven months.