Once Upon A Time: Boxing World Feared Floyd Mayweather's Knockout Power

Floyd Mayweather Jr. will go down in boxing history as one of--if not--the best to ever step inside the ring.

With an undefeated professional career of 50-0, “Money” Mayweather’s legacy is set in stone.

As great as Mayweather was, many criticized the five-division world champion for being a “runner” or a “point-fighter” during the latter part of his legendary career.

This criticism was never louder than in his unanimous decision victory over Manny Pacquiao back in 2015.

Save for his wins over Conor McGregor and Victor Ortiz, eight of Mayweather Jr’s last ten wins came by decision.

However, this wasn’t the case during Mayweather’s early days.

Back when he was still “Pretty Boy” Floyd, Mayweather was knocking guys out on the regular. 15 of his first 20 fights ended by stoppage.

Later on in his career, Mayweather authored thrilling stoppages of high-profile fighters such as Diego Corrales and Arturo Gatti.

In 2001, Mayweather successfully defended his WBC super featherweight championship with a 10th-round TKO over Corrales.

Mayweather displayed his power-punching prowess in that fight, knocking Corrales down thrice in the seventh round and then twice more in the tenth round. His weapon of choice in that encounter was the left hook.

Four years later, Mayweather was once again on the winning end of a masterful stoppage as he battered Gatti into retirement in the sixth round to win the WBC super lightweight championship, his third world title in as many divisions.

After beating Gatti, Mayweather would go on to have just four more stoppage wins in his career due to switching styles.

Mayweather evolved into a more defensive fighter but would continue to dominate and win two more titles in two weight divisions.

According to Mayweather, the switch in his fighting style was due to the damage that he started taking because of his more aggressive style.

A hand injury in his fight against Carlos Hernandez somewhat sparked Mayweather’s decision to become a more cautious and calculating competitor.

The fact that Mayweather was just as successful in his early career as he was, later on, is a testament to the kind of talent that he has inside the boxing ring.