Floyd Mayweather barely put a foot wrong during his unblemished 50-0 professional career.

Only a handful of fighters were able to ask questions of the self-proclaimed ‘Best Ever’ at the peak of his powers.

There was his nip-and-tuck affair with Oscar De La Hoya in 2007, a shaky moment against Shane Mosley in 2010 and, of course, Mayweather’s inaugural encounter against Jose Luis Castillo in 2002, which many fans felt he lost.

But outside of those three fights, Mayweather remained in almost complete control throughout his stint in the paid ranks.

Other generational greats he shared the ring with were Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto and Canelo Alvarez.

It is therefore a massive compliment to former welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr, who Mayweather sparred in 2013, that he was singled out as one of the best fighters the boxing icon had faced in the ring.

“Errol Spence, he’s a hell of a fighter,” Mayweather told Fight Hype.

“One thing about me, I’m always going to give it to you 100 per cent 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 unified the WBA, WBC and IBF welterweight titles in the late 2010s and early 2020s before losing all three major world titles to Terence Crawford in a much-anticipated, undisputed clash in July 2023.

‘The Truth’ hasn’t fought since that fateful night although he is reportedly close to agreeing on a deal to box WBO and WBC super welterweight champion Sebastian Fundora in early 2025.

However, newly appointed WBO president Gustavo Olivieri has informed talkSPORT.com that only the WBC title will be on the line should that fight make it off the negotiation table.

If Fundora beats Spence then he will keep hold of his belt.

But should he fall to defeat then WBO interim champion Crawford will be elevated to full world champion without throwing a punch.

“During the WBO convention at the ratings proceedings which I was presiding at after being elected, TGB Promotions through their council, Phile Weiss (lawyer) petitioned that Errol Spence be installed within the top ten at 154lbs,” said Oliveri.

“The purpose was to request that he be allowed to fight Fundora for the [WBO] title and he presented his case with strong arguments.

“But there are some factors that are undisputed: he’s been inactive for two years, he’s coming off a brutal TKO loss to Terence Crawford and he has never fought at 154lbs nor been rated at 154lbs.

“So I have those facts that are undisputed… You may say ‘Errol Spence is one of the biggest names at 154lbs, it’s a great fight against Fundora’.

“But based on those facts and the other fighters that are waiting their turn at 154lbs, having fought at 154lbs plus their level activity, their suitable opposition, having won regional titles, having faced rated contenders.

“If I allow Spence to fight Fundora immediately for the title with those facts…

“Would that be a good precedent to set? It would open doors for other petitions, ‘Oh you did this in the past, why are you not giving the chance to another fighter?’

“And we have done this in the past, Tim Tszyu wanted to fight Keith Thurman and we didn’t approve Thurman.

“And we’re not going to sanction that fight [Fundora vs Spence]. Fundora may fight Spence but it will be considered a WBO non-title fight…

“We’re going to allow him to proceed with that fight with the condition that if he loses, the title is vacated automatically and Crawford elevated to full champion status.”

Mayweather pocketed a mammoth $1.2 billion in estimated earnings from his professional boxing career, where he retired as a true icon with 50 wins undefeated.

Some of his biggest nights saw him generate obscene revenue, setting up a generational worth for himself fighting the likes of Manny Pacquiao in 2014 and Conor McGregor in 2017.

He eventually hung up his gloves after battering Irish UFC superstar McGregor in 2017, with many expecting he would indeed leave the sport behind.

But Mayweather was always hungry for more, and although his professional career was over, ‘TBE’ decided there was still a route to making money.

His first exhibition came in 2018 when he took on Japanese star Tenshin Nasukawa in Japan where he earned a big purse.

In 2021, Mayweather took on Logan Paul where he earned a guaranteed $30 million for an unscored exhibition.

In his third non-professional encounter that year, he defeated Don Moore.

But the American landed a second staggering exhibition for another appearance in Japan, having been approached by promotion RIZIN.

He would take on Japanese MMA fighter Mikuru Asakura in a boxing fight, but it was to be just three rounds of three minutes, a breeze for the regular twelve-round king.

Bu it was upon discovering the purse he would receive that sent the boxing world into a frenzy.

He had managed to negotiate $20 million for his latest comeback appearance, a staggering fee given he wouldn’t even risk his perfect record.

It was expected he would breeze past his Japanese opponent, given his sensational talent and natural ability, despite being past his prime years at the age of 45.

A huge crowd packed into the venue in Saitama, a sign that star power and a chance to see the legend in action alone would still see him pick up purses.

Mayweather was under an illusion it would be routine, but he was caught by a surprising hand in a fast-paced opening round.

It was a big shot, and a big shock that he had been clipped, given his defensive skills were nothing short of perfect throughout his career.

But that was the one and only time of real adversity as he rallied in the short format and began to show his true class.

And he earned his money and impressed the crowd in the second round as he upped the tempo and began landing at will.

The final seconds of the second period ticked away, but the breakthrough moment came.

Mayweather landed a left hand which shook his opponent’s boots but he shook his head.

Although just before the bell sounded, the former five-weight world champion unleashed a booming right hook.

It found the target and sent Asakura on to the canvas on the seat of his shorts, and the fight was quickly stopped.

The short format failed to even go the distance, and Mayweather had pocketed $20 million for around six minutes of work.

It saw him earn a mind-blowing $3.3 million per minute of action, but it was little surprise to his team who had helped him reach that position.

He produced a simply incredible boast, insisting he was ‘stealing’ a living from his paid glorified sparring sessions.

“Why do you keep doing exhibitions? Why do you keep stealing money? Get out of my business,” he said directed at critics.

“Stay out of my money business and get yourself some money. This is so fun and so easy.

“Easy payday, easy pay cheque, easy opponent. That is all I do, line them up like bowling pins and I will knock them all down.

“And I am going to keep tricking them, you all keep fighting them hard fights but I’m gonna keep fighting in exhibitions and killing the game and stealing money.

“Legalised bank robbery, if you all keep paying I will keep playing.”

Mayweather has since appeared in the UK with a money-spinning bout against Aaron Chalmers in 2023, as well as taking on KSI’s brother Deji in the Middle East and holding two bouts against John Gotti III.

It is unclear if he now has any more plans to return, but his career revenue is simply jaw-dropping.

Floyd Mayweather has released a statement after a video emerged of him being attacked while out shopping in London.

The boxing icon was spotted visiting a jewellery shop in Hatton Garden when he was ambushed and chased by a mob.

Mayweather looked furious as he and his security team were pursued by a large crowd of people.

‘Money’, who was wearing a green jacket, was escorted out of the shop and bundled into a black 4×4 car.

The Sun report that he was targeted over his support for Israel amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

One witness told the British newspaper: “There were maybe about eight to ten people involved in going after him, and about 20 or 25 watching on.

“Mayweather’s security team were outnumbered. Someone said that Mayweather had been shopping when he was asked why he supported Israel.

“He doubled down and said he was proud to support the Jews.

“Then someone took a swing at him because of that. It looked very targeted.

“He was bundled out of the shop but by then there were multiple people trying to hit him, and pushing his security guards…

“Floyd took a few hits during it, but his security was trying to push people back.

“I couldn’t really see Floyd trying to throw any punches back. His guards were just trying to get distance between him and them.

Floyd Mayweather has released a statement after a video emerged of him being attacked while out shopping in London.

The boxing icon was spotted visiting a jewelry shop in Hatton Garden when he was ambushed and chased by a mob.

Mayweather looked furious as he and his security team were pursued by a large crowd of people.

‘Money’, who was wearing a green jacket, was escorted out of the shop and bundled into a black 4×4 car.

The Sun report that he was targeted over his support for Israel amid the ongoing conflict in Gaz

One witness told the British newspaper: “There were maybe about eight to ten people involved in going after him, and about 20 or 25 watching on.

“Mayweather’s security team were outnumbered. Someone said that Mayweather had been shopping when he was asked why he supported Israel.

“He doubled down and said he was proud to support the Jews.

“Then someone took a swing at him because of that. It looked very targeted.

“He was bundled out of the shop but by then there were multiple people trying to hit him, and pushing his security guards…

“Floyd took a few hits during it, but his security was trying to push people back.

“I couldn’t really see Floyd trying to throw any punches back. His guards were just trying to get distance between him and them.

“They got him into a car and tapped the roof two times, then it sped off. Clearly they were desperate to get him out of there.

“It was over within two minutes.”

However, Mayweather has since come out and declared that nobody landed a blow on him.

“Let me set the record straight… there is no truth to the rumours going around,” Mayweather wrote on Instagram.

“I wasn’t punched or touched in any way. What you are seeing is just my security doing their job to keep things under control.

“I was in the UK for a quick 48-hour stop to do some shopping and unfortunately, people let jealousy and negativity fuel false stories.