The Floyd Mayweather debut in the pro ranks took place this time back in 1996, not long after the American boxer became a bronze medallist earlier that year at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
Many said that the young Mayweather was robbed at the time through a now infamous judging decision, but that event proved to be a catalyst in motivation for a Mayweather hell bent on reaching the very top of his profession years later.
A 19 year old Floyd Mayweather at the time moved out to Las Vegas to stay with his uncle Roger and made his professional debut against Mexican Roberto Apodaca on October 11th, 1996.
Here’s the full Floyd Mayweather debut in the pros – which didn’t end up lasting very long:
At the time Mayweather’s father, Floyd senior, was in jail for drug offences and the young Mayweather was cornered above by his uncle’s Roger and Jeff Mayweather.
What’s evident from Mayweather’s debut at super-featherweight above, is that he was punching with serious power early on in his career when he was known as ‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd, later adopting the ‘Money’ Mayweather mantra.
This power in the latter part of his career was something that wasn’t as frequent as he moved up through the weights, but partly this was due to the consistent hand injuries he received over the course of his tenure as a pro.
Combinations were also a feature of the younger Mayweather above, but as he got on in age and experience he developed a style where he was able to pot shot fighters more to break them down gradually.
Notice the body work from the above video how Mayweather used to go to the body with pin point accuracy too, something he later displayed in devastating beat downs such as the one inflicted on the great Arturo Gatti (RIP) in 2005.
Now in 2016, as things stand and after amassing a career record as a pro of 49-0 (26KO) some are anticipating one final fight in 2017 of what could be a then 40 year Floyd Mayweather, 21 years on from his pro debut all those years ago.
He has consistently denied coming back but surely the elusive 50-0 record will prove too much of an incentive to turn down.
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