Floyd Mayweather stepped back into the ring for an exhibition bout this month, giving fans a glimpse of the skills that made him unbeatable in his 50-fight professional career.
The Michigan-born fighter, known as "Pretty Boy Floyd" early on and later as "Money Mayweather," wrapped up his pro career in 2017. He left the sport as a multi-weight world champion with wins over big names like Manny Pacquiao, Oscar De La Hoya, Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez, and Miguel Cotto.
Mayweather's speed and technical prowess made him a tough nut to crack. No fighter could find sustained success against him throughout his career.
Four-weight world champion Mikey Garcia shared his thoughts on a hypothetical matchup between Mayweather and Vasiliy Lomachenko in their primes. In a resurfaced interview with ES News, Garcia said:
"I still think Floyd beats Lomachenko in both primes. You could look at Mayweather when he was at 130 pounds and he beat [Carlos] Hernández, when he beat Diego Corrales, those were great performances. Maybe some of his best. That was a young Floyd. He beat Arturo Gatti then moving up in weight, he was fast and strong. It's not till recent till he kind of backed off from looking for the stoppages and focused more on his defence towards the end of his career. Earlier he was dangerous. I think a prime Floyd beats a prime Lomachenko."
Garcia pointed out that Mayweather's early career at 130 pounds showed a different side of the fighter. He was fast, strong, and looked for stoppages. As his career progressed, Mayweather shifted his focus more towards defense.
Lomachenko, nicknamed "The Matrix," boasts an impressive amateur record of 396 wins and just 1 loss. He's a three-weight world champion and currently holds the IBF World Title in the lightweight division. At 36, Lomachenko isn't retiring yet but plans to take the rest of 2024 off.
Known for setting traps and using feints to score shots, Lomachenko's skills are impressive. But in Garcia's view, they're not enough to overcome a prime Mayweather.
