Floyd Mayweather famously retired unbeaten but has admitted one man pushed him to his limits in sparring.
Mayweather’s record of 50-0 is one of the most celebrated in boxing. The multi-weight world champion beat legendary names like Manny Pacquiao, Canelo Alvarez, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto and Oscar De La Hoya
Mayweather was never put down in the ring, and not often hurt, thanks to his famous shoulder roll defensive techniques and speed of mind, foot and fist.
Speaking to FightHype TV, Mayweather named a young American fighter he sparred in 2013 as one of the best he faced.
“Errol Spence, he’s a hell of a fighter. One thing about me, I’m always going to give it to you 100% you know, and in training camp, when I was training for my fight with [Robert] Guerrero, Errol Spence gave me solid work.
“He’s a very young, tough competitor, so if I sit here and not give that young kid props, it’ll be bad. Even though after doing my time I’d been off a year, he took me to the limit, he made me work in the boxing gym, I like kids like that.”
Spence was hugely impressive in the early part of his career. He raced to 22-0 and then challenged Brit Kell Brook for his first world title and won by knockout on away soil in Sheffield. He defended the title against Lamont Peterson and Mikey Garcia and added the WBC strap by beating Shawn Porter.
After further wins over Danny Garcia and Yordenis Ugás made him a three-belt champion, he went into a historic undisputed contest with Terence Crawford in July 2023. It was a tough night that saw Spence stopped in the 9th round and Crawford become undisputed in a second division.
Spence has not fought since while Crawford has moved up and become a world champion at 154 lbs, though reports suggest he will soon be joining him there.
