How does it feel to beat Floyd Mayweather?

MANILA, Philippines – For Floyd Mayweather Jr, life is about winning. As a child he says he would race his friends to see who could tie their shoes the fastest. At 38 years old, he continues to apply that mindset to his professional boxing career, earning him an unbeaten 47-0 (26 knockouts) record and world titles in 5 divisions.

“All I was taught was to win, be first at whatever you do,” says Mayweather. He has repeatedly touted his undefeated record and winner’s mentality as reasons why he’ll triumph in his biggest fight to date on May 2, when he faces Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. 

“When a guy has lost before, when a guy’s been knocked out before, that’s in the back of his mind,” Mayweather says.

Some have come close against Mayweather during his 19-year pro career. Many felt Jose Luis Castillo deserved the nod in their first fight in 2002, with Compubox punch stats favoring the incumbent lightweight titleholder Castillo.

Oscar de la Hoya, whom Mayweather faced in his first major blockbuster fight, did enough in one of the three judges’ minds to earn a victory, becoming the only fighter to win a scorecard against Mayweather.

But before he was “Money” Mayweather who set pay-per-view and casino gate records, he was “Lil’ Floyd,” taking on all comers in the unpaid ranks. And on a few occasions, he even lost. 

Records in the amateurs are difficult to substantiate due to the informal nature of local events and the lack of consistent reporting on the sport. The fights last 3 rounds instead of the 12-round distance of a professional championship fight.

Decisions were judged by a much derided computerized scoring system that created more controversy than it alleviated for most of the 90s until it was scrapped following the 2012 Olympics.

In these times only a number that can be counted on two hands knew what it felt like to have their hand raised while standing opposite of Mayweather.

Most accounts list Mayweather’s win total at 84 but the number of losses attributed to him vary. What’s certain is that Serafim Todorov of Bulgaria was the last man to defeat Mayweather in the semifinals of the 1996 Olympics, albeit by a decision that is widely disputed.

Before that, Augie Sanchez, Arnulfo Bravo, Carlos Navarro, Noureddine Medjihoud, and Martin Castillo earned decisions over Mayweather in national or international tournaments. 

Greek Olympian Tigran Ouzlian is also credited with a win over Mayweather by medical walkover in a 1995 tournament in Moscow, Russia. 

Aside from Todorov, Sanchez is the only other boxer whose win over Mayweather remains preserved on YouTube.

“The last American to beat him…” 

The pride in Sanchez’s voice as he utters those 6 words is noticeable, as if it awakens a part of his life long since put to rest.

Through all of his accomplishments as an amateur and as a professional, the one fight people continue to ask him about was his first match with Mayweather at the U.S. Olympic qualifiers in April 1996. 

“It’s kind of crazy, because I retired from fighting in 2001. Years later, this is popping up,” Sanchez tells Rappler as he lets out a laugh. “I never thought years later that they’d be bringing up the fight with me and Mayweather.”

“It’s a great feeling. Just when I thought that everybody forgot about me, you guys didn’t.”

Mayweather and Sanchez had been friends and teammates on the national squad for a number of years. Mayweather, a national champion at age 16, was the country’s top 106-pound fighter while Sanchez was the top 125-pound fighter. The following year, Mayweather stepped up to 112 and won the Nationals at that weight.  

“He used to see my Uncle Roger all the time and my Uncle Jeff; he knew my family from Vegas. Me and him got close,” Mayweather said of Sanchez at the press conference announcing his fight with Pacquiao in March. 

The year after that, Mayweather by-passed the 119-pound category for the 125-pound division and found himself facing Sanchez in the semifinals of the 1995 National Championships. Mayweather won by points and defeated James Baker afterwards to win the featherweight crown. 

The following year, they once again ended up competing for the same spot – this time to be the United States’ 125-pound representative at the Atlanta Olympics. If a fighter lost twice, he’d be eliminated from contention. The stakes were higher than ever, and Sanchez was up to the challenge.

“Just constant pressure, head movement, keeping my distance, and cutting the ring,” Sanchez says of how he topped Mayweather by a 12-11 score in Oakland, California. “I wasn’t as fast as him but I had good counterpunching skills. I would react to his punches all the time.” 

Sanchez pushed a busy pace, shifting his feet to constantly be in front of Mayweather. At times, Mayweather appeared over-anxious, lunging with punches that Sanchez countered. 

When his name was announced as the winner, Sanchez was overjoyed while Mayweather could only put his face in his hands and contemplate a shot at redemption.

Mayweather’s next opponent in the loser’s bracket was Navarro, who had beaten him in 1995 in a qualifier for the Pan-Am team. Mayweather dominated Navarro this time around by a score of 31-11, setting up one last shot at an Olympic berth. 

The Olympic box-offs were set for Augusta, Georgia. If Mayweather was going to fulfill his Olympic dream, he’d have to go through Sanchez – not once but twice. 

“I knew it was going to be tough,” Sanchez remembers of his two fights with Mayweather afterwards. 

Mayweather and Sanchez faced off two days in a row on Friday and Saturday. Mayweather won the first 12-8 and won the second 20-10, gaining him inclusion in an Olympic squad that also included future pro world champions Eric Morel, Antonio Tarver, David Reid, David Diaz, and Fernando Vargas. 

Sanchez and Mayweather both signed with Top Rank out of the amateurs and may have faced one another under different circumstances.

“Eventually we were supposed to fight as professionals but his career went one way and my career went another way,” said Mayweather.

Sanchez compiled a pro record of 28-3 (25 KOs) and retired in 2001 after suffering a first round knockout against John Michael Johnson. He received his one shot at a world title in 2000 in a brawl with WBO featherweight champion “Prince” Naseem Hamed, which Sanchez lost by fourth round knockout. 

Today, Sanchez coaches boxers at Barry’s Boxing Center, just 6 minutes away from the Mayweather Boxing Club in Las Vegas. His wife, whom he met as a 9-year-old at local boxing events, is the daughter of the gym’s owners.

Mayweather still has high praise for his old rival. “As of right now he’s still one of the best trainers in boxing,” said Mayweather. 

“I just played with him…”

While Sanchez knew everything there was to know about Mayweather, the name was just another on the board that Martin Castillo would have to do battle with on November 17, 1994. 

The two boxers met as 17-year-olds in a Mexico vs USA duel in Las Vegas. Many of the boxing world’s media and personalities were in town to see Roy Jones Jr and James Toney battle for the super middleweight championship the night after. 

The Mexico City native Castillo, who would go on to win the WBA junior bantamweight title in 2004 and make 3 successful defenses, says he won the decision by a one-point margin, with 3-2 sounding about right to him.  

“The best way I can explain to you what I did is that I fought like Mayweather,” Castillo remembers of his strategy that night. “I tried to do everything he did, because in that time it was easy for me to fight in that kind of boxing. Hit and move, hit and move. Then I’d put my hands down and throw a jab and then move. I just played with him. 

“I tried to make him feel mad because he couldn’t hit me. Playing dirty, kind of like that.”

Mayweather would never get a chance at payback. He moved up in weight shortly after while Castillo remained at 112 pounds. Like Mayweather, Castillo would compete at the 1996 Olympics as well, losing in the first round to Zoltan Lunka of Germany.

Castillo fought until 2010 and retired with a record of 35-4 (18 KOs). Overall, he thinks he did pretty well in his career. 

“I never thought I was going to become a world champion and go to the Olympic games and be one of the most famous fighters in the world. I feel good, not only for beating Mayweather, but because I’ve done a lot of things in my life,” says Castillo. 

Sanchez, Castillo favor Mayweather to win

Sanchez and Castillo both belong to a select club of boxers who can say they beat Mayweather. Neither sees Pacquiao joining that group. 

“In my own opinion, Mayweather’s too big. Mayweather’s too smart and he’s a tricky fighter,” says Castillo, who defended his world title on the undercard of Pacquiao’s first two fights with Erik Morales.

“To me, Mayweather is not as quick as Pacquiao but he’s fast. I think it’ll be a tough fight but I think Mayweather is better than Pacquiao.” 

Castillo thinks Pacquiao’s knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez in their fourth fight in 2012 hurt his confidence while boosting Mayweather’s.

“I think Mayweather has more confidence because he sees that Pacquiao is not invincible. He saw that Pacquiao can get hit and be knocked out just like everyone,” says Castillo.

Sanchez feels that Mayweather will be the better tactician between the two and gradually break Pacquiao down in the later rounds.

“I think anybody has a chance, statistically, but in reality I don’t think that Floyd’s gonna have any problems with [Pacquiao],” says Sanchez. “Maybe just to figure him out but after that, it’s basically just gonna be a boxing lesson.”

Despite nearly 2-to-1 odds, the 8-division champion Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) is adamant that he’ll be the first to topple Mayweather as a professional. It’s that possibility – the ‘what if’ factor – that has made this fight the most anticipated fight of this decade.

But for now, defeat is something only in Mayweather’s deep past, separated by nearly two decades of victories and millions of dollars in prize money. – Rappler.com

Ryan Songalia is the sports editor of Rappler, a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and a contributor to The Ring magazine. He can be reached at ryan.songalia@rappler.com. Follow him on Twitter: @RyanSongalia.