Floyd Mayweather Jr., the boxing legend, claims he can count the number of truly difficult fights he faced throughout his career on one hand.
Known as `Money`, Mayweather officially retired in 2017 with an unblemished 50-0 record, a milestone unmatched in boxing history, having also captured world titles across five different weight classes.
Leading up to his final professional bout against mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor, the American fighter had notably defeated 15 consecutive world champions.
However, when asked about his toughest opponents, Mayweather pointed to Emanuel Augustus, famous for his unconventional `Drunken Master` style, as one of them.
Despite defeating Augustus in 2000, Mayweather credited the unorthodox fighter as being among his most challenging foes, mentioning him alongside Miguel Cotto.
Speaking to FightHype, he said: “I probably had six tough fights, if that, probably five tough fights.”
“Cotto was a tough fight, Emmanuel Augustus was tough, Cotto you know he was tough.”
“[I can name] those two that I can name off the top of my head, probably a few other fights but we got through it.”
Augustus was known for feigning intoxication during his matches, moving awkwardly around the ring in an attempt to disrupt his opponents` rhythm.
Even the famously elusive Mayweather found it challenging to fully adjust to Augustus`s peculiar approach during their fight, which he ultimately won by decision.
Augustus ended his 78-fight career in 2011 with a record of 38 wins, 34 losses, and six draws, suffering defeats in his final six contests.
Miguel Cotto, a respected four-division world champion, faced Mayweather for the WBA light-middleweight title in 2012.
Mayweather moved up a weight class from welterweight to claim the victory over 12 rounds, though he did suffer a bloody nose from Cotto`s effective and physically demanding tactics.
Cotto retired in 2017, concluding an impressive career just months after Mayweather`s retirement bout.
Mayweather, who defeated Saul `Canelo` Alvarez in 2013, departed the sport as the wealthiest boxer in history, with estimated career earnings exceeding £1 BILLION.
Roughly half of this vast fortune was reportedly generated from his two major victories against Manny Pacquiao and Conor McGregor.
The highly anticipated showdown with Pacquiao took over five years to arrange and saw Mayweather outmaneuver his renowned rival over the full distance.
He further elaborated on his opponents during an appearance on The Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast:
“The best fighter I ever fought, probably was Manny Pacquiao. Because of his movement.”
“But he`s a helluva` fighter and I can see why he won so many fights and I can see why he`s going down as a Hall of Famer, it`s just certain moves that he made.”
“But the roughest fighter probably was a guy named Emanuel Augustus. The Drunken Master. He was tough.”
“And Miguel Cotto was very, very physically strong. So, you`ve got different fighters, different days you feel different ways.”
“So some days you can go over there and you may not feel that good but you go over there and feel superb.”
Mayweather, pointedly excluding McGregor from his list of tough encounters, continues to participate in exhibition boxing matches since his official retirement.
His most recent exhibition took place in August 2024 against John Gotti III, the grandson of the infamous New York crime boss.
