Floyd Mayweather nickname: Why was the legendary boxer called ‘Pretty boy’?

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is one of the greatest boxers in the sport’s history. He retired from boxing in 2017 with an iconic 50-0 record. Aside from being undefeated throughout his career, Mayweather remained a box-office star in his career. He ranks top in the all-time PPV buys lists, and his fights had a huge live gate. Mayweather had three nicknames during his time as a boxer: Money, T.B.E, and ‘Pretty Boy’.

Boxing runs in the Mayweather family. His father and his two uncles boxed in their respective careers. With his family background, Floyd Mayweather started boxing very young. He even dropped out of high school to pursue boxing full time. His family supported Mayweather’s ambition, and he soon became an amateur boxing sensation.

Mayweather boxed under different names throughout his career. At the start of his career, Floyd Mayweather was called Pretty Boy. The name “Pretty Boy” sounds weird for someone with such a dominant performance in the ring. However, this term was coined by Mayweather’s fellow boxers when he was still an amateur. He appeared very young and looked like a high school student. But Mayweather does not believe that to be the case. He says, “I got that name, not because of my looks, but because when my fights finished, I never came out cut or bruised.“

Throughout his career, Mayweather went on to win world titles in five different weight classes and cemented himself with the force of an immovable object. He fought against some of the greatest lighter-weight class boxers like Oscar De La Hoya, Canelo Alvarez, and even UFC superstar Conor McGregor. Mayweather’s most famous fight came against Manny Pacquiao in 2015. Mayweather vs Pacquiao sold nearly 4.5 million PPVs and recorded $600 million in revenue.

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Floyd Mayweather earned his nickname by avoiding injuries inside the ring

Undefeated pro-boxer Floyd Mayweather had an excellent record of 84 wins and six losses in his amateur boxing record. Floyd worked for a long time to defend himself in the ring from his opponents. He would avoid any damage during the fight because of the hard work he put in from a young age. Due to this, Mayweather left the ring almost unscathed compared to other boxers who were annihilated by the time they left the ring.

Mayweather’s elite defensive skills and apparent lack of injuries after his fights have been achieved by very few fighters. Mayweather’s “Pretty Boy” era had the most offensive display of boxing. He was knocking out opponents left and right while suffering minimal damage. His 12-round fight against Arturo Gatti was stopped in six rounds due to the beating Gatti received. While Gatti’s face looked like a disaster, Floyd could walk away injury-free due to his dominant performance and impregnable defense.

Floyd Mayweather dropped his Pretty Boy monicker and changed it to ‘Money.’ Floyd felt like he couldn’t call himself “Pretty Boy” at 35 years of age. “Money” Mayweather sold approximately 24 million PPVs, generating $1.6 billion in revenue. With an estimated net worth of $450 million, ‘Money’ is not an inappropriate moniker at all.

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