Floyd Mayweather Could be Set for new Superstardom as a Coach

Floyd Mayweather appears to finally be hanging up his gloves and following in the footsteps of his father, Floyd Sr, and his late uncle, Roger, as a boxing coach. 

Despite being 43 years old, there had been plenty of speculation suggesting that Mayweather Jr wasn’t ready to stop fighting just yet. However, the tragic passing of his uncle in March seems to have inspired his decision to move away from fighting and instead to coaching. 

The American is considered one of the greatest boxers ever, winning 15 major titles and finishing his career with an unbeaten record, and has now set his sights on becoming one of the greatest coaches. The work has already started as Mayweather has spent the past month training his oldest son, Koruan, and his 14-year-old nephew, Chris.

With his career in the ring now over it offers a good opportunity to look back on what made him so great, as well as looking at how he can use his skill set to inspire a new generation of fighters. 

Mayweather boasts an impeccable 50-0 record and has won titles in five different weight classes, placing him firmly in the list of all-time greats. 

The American only won 27 of his 50 fights by way of knockout, most of which came in his earlier days against lower-level opposition. In a way though, this makes his unbeaten record even more impressive.

He has fought all the best fighters that the boxing world has had to offer, even holding a record of beating 16 world champions consecutively. The fact that Mayweather consistently went the distance with the worlds best is good enough on its own, that’s before mentioning that in all of those fights, in all of those rounds, he never even hit the canvas. 

Where most fighters could rely on the knowledge that even if they were losing, they could turn the fight around with one big punch, but Mayweather didn’t need to. His movement and defensive skills were unparalleled, they were so good that he would spend 12 rounds toying with and frustrating the world’s best. No matter what they tried, nobody could touch Mayweather.

This is what makes him so impressive, not only has he got a boxing CV that can’t be matched by many, not only was he unbeaten without touching the canvas, but he was the better fighter in pretty much all 50 fights, forcing the worlds best to fight to his tempo.

He may not have been the most explosive boxer with the most exciting highlight reel, but Mayweather boasted defensive skills and an incredible intelligence inside the ring that many can’t even get close to. The American will certainly go down as one of the best ring technicians and defensive boxers that has ever lived.

Mayweather perfected his own unique and clever style which has already influenced boxers all around the world.

It’s often the case that being a great fighter doesn’t make you a great coach, and vice versa. This could be what makes Mayweather a threat as a coach, as he possessed such an unrivalled intelligence in the ring that it seems more than likely that he will transfer this into coaching. 

Granted, there will be areas where Mayweather may not have the knowledge or skill set that a coach of 20 years may have, but he does have something that other coaches can only dream of; the knowledge of what happens inside the ring that no coach can compete with.

One skill from Mayweather’s boxing days which could transfer very well into his coaching career is his ability to recognise an opponent’s abilities and adjust in order to beat them. Mayweather often had the upper hand on his opposition, not just for his movement and technical skills, but for his ability to recognise and adapt.

If an opponent presented a certain obstacle, Mayweather could adapt his style within a fight, sometimes even within a round, in order to get the edge. If the former Olympian can transfer this skill to coaching, he could give his fighters a great advantage in their preparations. 

Last but not least, Mayweather is an incredibly hard worker in the gym. There is no surprise that Mayweather has stayed in such incredible condition even past the age of 40, as the man essentially lives in the gym. Not many fighters work harder than he did and keeping this attitude as a coach will mean that, at the very least, his fighters could be some of the toughest and fittest in the game. 

By Jak Richardson