Floyd Mayweather Jr: Brilliance of a �Pretty Boy'

It'll be a tough call for Floyd, and hell may even freeze over before we witness Floyd Mayweather Jr. take a walk from his throne. The Grand Rapids, Michigan born fighter was born on February 24, 1977. Little Floyd began the road to his boxing career in the peewee stages of his wonder years, shadow boxing in the shadows of his father, "Floyd Mayweather Sr. and uncle, Roger "Black Mamba" Mayweather. Pretty boy Floyd was meant to be something special, and would be just that one day in the future when his time came to approach the stage of greatness. He obtained the name pretty boy during his run at the 1996 Olympics. Floyd Jr. remained in fact the only one on his Olympic team to emerge from a fight without a mark on his face. His ring brilliance and intelligence in the Olympics would eventually earn him a bronze medal. Later in his career, that medal would begin to shade into a perfect golden coin to resemble his professional skill and top quality technique.

At age 19 and with an Amateur record of 84-6, Floyd Mayweather Jr. turned pro on October 11, 1996. With so much raw talent, technique and ring savvy, Floyd Mayeather Jr. would go on to brilliantly carve his foes by racking impressive decision victories and KO's as well. Not only did his hands move faster than the speed of lighting, but also the sharpness of his punches quickly made an impact in the sport of boxing. By October of 1998, just two years after his debut, Pretty Boy Floyd challenged Genaro Hernandez for the WBC 130lb Super-featherweight championship. In dominating fashion, Floyd lifted Hernandez's' title with an 8th round stoppage. He continued on in pursuit of another goal, knocking down anything that stood in his path to greatness, names such as: Carlos Alberto Ramon Rios, Diego Corrales, Carlos Hernandez and Gregorgio Vargas all fell victim to Mayweather's punishment in the ring.

By 2002, and 5 pounds heavier at 135lbs (Lightweight), Floyd Mayweather Jr. challenge Jose Luis Castillo for his lightweight championship. The two battled to a controversial decision that saw Floyd get the benefit of the doubt at the very end. Determined to prove who's the better man, Little Floyd accepted the rematch this time thoroughly dismantling Jose Luis Castillo and placing himself amongst the elite competitors of the sport with such a performance. Floyd's greatness was too marketable to stick around long at the lightweight limit of 135lbs. Two fights after his brief trilogy with Castillo, Floyd added on another 5lbs, debuting in the Junior welterweight division of 140lbs.

On May 22, 2004 Floyd Mayweather Jr. thoroughly dismantled DeMarcus 'Chop Chop' Corley with a twelve round unanimous decision. In the wake of Roy Jones Jr.'s recent 2nd Round KO loss a week before to Antonio Tarver on May 15th, fans begin to consider Floyd the apparent heir to the pound-4-pound throne Jones was once known for. A concise domination of Henry Bruseles in January 2005 help land him a Pay Per View date set for June 25, 2005 against New Jersey's own, Arturo 'Thunder' Gatti. The match proved to be a complete one sided, teeth kicking, Jersey City fan seat-clinching thriller. Many fans that night thought Arturo Gatti would be able to penetrate the impeccable defense of Mayweather but were miles off. The only problem Gatti presented Mayweather was the fact that he didn't throw the towel in much sooner. By the end of 6 rounds with both eyes almost swollen shut, Gatti's trainer Buddy McGirt had seen enough and halted the contest for the sake of saving his fighter from further hometown embarrassment.

It only took three fights at a 140lbs to scare away some of the other top dogs in the junior welterweight division. England's Ricky Hatton had suddenly become interested in other affairs, Both Vivian Harris and Kostya Tsyzu proved spent time nursing their wounds from recent losses and Miguel Angel Cotto was just too new on the assembly line to deal with a fighter of Mayweather's caliber just yet. Floyd decided to enter yet another division, the land of welterweights at 147lbs. He debuted his new 147lb frame in November 2005 against Sharmba Mitchell. Mitchell proved to be a bit quicker and slicker than Gatti five months ago, but was too far beyond his golden years to give Floyd any problems. Mitchell absorbed a powerful body shot from Floyd in the 6th and was ruled unable to continue by Referee: Richard Steele. His bout with Mitchell was a mere set up for a showdown to take place by April of 2006. A possible Judah-Mayweather bout would generate millions!

Brooklyn's finest, and undisputed welterweight champion, Zab "Super" Judah, ended up losing his WBC version of the undisputed title which he won a year prior to his loss to Carlos Baldomir with a 9th round TKO victory over Cory Spinks. As Mayweather twitched in agony as he watched possible millions fade away, Judah barely escaped alive with a split decision loss to Baldomir. The electricity of the two fighters, Mayweather and Judah would prove to still be a mega fight despite Judah's upset loss. On April 8, 2006, the two fighters met in the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, NV. It was a spectacular fight that began with Zab winning the early rounds as Mayweather carefully stalked and punched at his "twin in skill." By the 5th round, Floyd Jr. had nourished his game plan by countering effectively attacking Judah with helacious body shots. The Brooklyn native begin to circle away from Mayweather before deciding to save himself from a knockdown in the 10th round. Judah wacked Mayweather with a vicious low blow and rabbit punch that caused a circus to explode in the ring. Despite any disheartening sites of his Uncle involved in a corner to corner all out war, Mayweather kept his composure and dominated the last two rounds of the fight, abandoning the myth that any fighter alive could match his skill.

Fighters of Floyd Mayweather Jr's. caliber don't often come as often as you may like, every now and then. At age 29 and almost 40 consecutive victories, Mayweather's brilliance is very hard to top at this stage. Still young and at his peak, very few critics and sports writers believe any fighter between 147lbs and south will present Floyd with any problems. I doubt it seriously as well.

Maybe even more then they do.