FLOYD Mayweather’s 50-0 win-loss record is the third best record in history for undefeated retired professional boxers.
Mayweather scored his 50th straight win by stopping MMA superstar Conor McGregor by a technical knockout in the 10th round of their massively hyped junior middleweight fight last August 26 before 14,623 at the T-Mobile Arena.
His victory surpassed the 49-0 record of the late Rocky “The Brockton/Blockbuster” Marciano. But despite his comeback win, Mayweather is no longer planning to fight again.
“This was my last fight tonight. For sure,” Mayweather said. “Tonight was my last fight. Tonight I chose the right dance partner to dance with. Conor you are a hell of a champion.”
This means that Mayweather will no longer aim to break the top two best win-loss record of an undefeated retired professional boxer.
The best record still belongs to the late Irish-American boxer Jimmy “Little Tiger” Barry from Chicago, Illinois, who scored 59 wins with 40 knockouts and 10 draws based on the record of Boxrec.
But according to Wikipedia, the unbeaten Barry had a total of 70 fights with 59 wins, 39 by knockouts, nine draws and two no contests. Barry held the world bantamweight championship from 1894 to 1899 and retired undefeated.
In his first significant bout, Barry knocked out Jack Levy in 17 rounds to win the 100-pound world championship on December 5, 1894. The following year, he claimed the world bantamweight crown (the bantamweight limit at the time ranged from 100 to 112 pounds) when George Dixon moved up to the featherweight class. Barry’s 28th-round knockout of Casper Leon on September 15, 1894, solidified that claim.
On December 6, 1897, Barry scored a 20th-round knockout against Walter Croot in London, England. Croot died the following day from a brain injury. Charged with manslaughter, Barry was exonerated when it was determined that Croot had died from a fractured skull sustained when his head hit the unpadded floor. That led to reform in the creation of padded canvas ring surfaces.
Barry was distraught over Croot’s death. The Chicagoan continued to box, but he did not fight with the same ferocity. Barry fought ten times after the Croot tragedy and failed to score a single knockout. In his final bout, he boxed a six-round draw with Harry Harris on September 1, 1899.
According to the International Boxing Hall of Fame, which inducted the diminutive pugilist in the Old Timer category in 2000, Barry is one of just 14 world boxing champions to retire without a loss.
RICARDO LOPEZ
The second best record holder is Mexican Ricardo “El Finito” Lopez who has 51 wins with 38 knockouts and one draw.
Lopez defended the Lineal and WBC Strawweight championship a record 21 times. He also won the WBA and WBO Championships in the same weight class. He later won the IBF light flyweight championship and defended it twice before retiring.
He is also the father of undefeated flyweight prospect Alonso Lopez.
Ricardo Lopez made his professional debut at the age of 20 by scoring a 3rd round knockout of Rogelio Hernandez. He made 26-0 before receiving his first shot at a world title.
Lopez stopped Lineal and WBC Minimumweight champion Hideyuki Ohashi of Japan via a 4th round knockout to win his first world title on October 10, 1990.
Lopez successfuly defended his title against Pretty Boy Lucas (22–2–2) of the Philippines the Philippines and Rocky Lin (14–0) of Taiwan. In 1993, López defeated future two time champion Saman Sorjaturong of Thailand. Sorjaturong was knocked down once in the 1st round and twice in the 2nd round when the referee stopped the bout.
Later that year, he knocked out Filipino former champion Manny Melchor in the 11th round. In his tenth title defense, López defeated future champion Kermin Guardia (21–0–0) by unanimous decision. He knocked out Surachai Saengmorakot (10–0) in the first round of his next bout.
In 1995, he defeated Andy Tabanas (30–2–0) of the Philippines via 12th round knockout. In his next bout, he defeated another Filipino boxer Edito “Ala” Villamor (29–1–1) by knockout. In 1997, López defended his title against Mongkol Charoen (20–1–0).
In his 20th world title bout, López unified his WBC title by defeating WBO Minimumweight Champion Alex Sánchez (25–1–0) of Puerto Rico via 5th round knockout. On March 7, 1998, López fought undefeated WBA Minimumweight Champion Rosendo Álvarez to a technical draw after referee Arthur Mercante Sr. stopped the contest following an accidental head butt in the seventh round. In the rematch, Alvarez came in over the minimumweight limit and was subsequently stripped of his title. Due to the weight disparity, the fight was in jeopardy. However, López chose to proceed with the contest against the heavier Alvarez with only López eligible to claim the now vacant WBA title. López defeated Alvarez by split decision to claim his third Minimumweight title.[5] After the fight, he vacated his titles in order to move up in weight.
In his first bout at light flyweight, López defeated IBF Champion Will Grigsby of the United States. He defended his title against former champion Ratanapol Sor Vorapin. On September 29, 2001, López knocked out Zolani Petelo, who had recently vacated his IBF Minimumweight title, the only Minimumweight title that López had not claimed before moving up to light flyweight. He officially announced his retirement from boxing at a press conference on November 28, 2002 in Mexico City.
López was the third champion in history to retire undefeated and the first to do so as both an amateur and professional fighter. He also shares with Joe Louis and Floyd Mayweather Jr. the record for consecutive title bouts without a loss (twenty-six).This streak began with his knockout of Hideyuki Ohashi to win the WBC Minimumweight title in 1990 and ended with his knockout of Zolani Petelo to defend his IBF Light Flyweight title in 2001. Ricardo only had one draw, which came against Rosendo Alvarez in 1998 in Lopez’s 48th bout and was avenged in the rematch eight months later.
López was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2007.
Lopez was voted as the Greatest Strawweight and Light Flyweight Champion ever by the Houston Boxing Hall Of Fame in 2014. The HBHOF is a voting body composed entirely of current and former fighters.
Among the other world champions, who retired undefeated were former IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Sven “The Phantom” Ottke (34-0-0) of Germany, IBA light heavyweight champion Tray “Bad News” Beasley (26-0-1), British/Europe/IBG light heavyweight champion Terry “The Fighting Fireman” Marsh (21-0-1) and world lightweight champion Jack “The Napoleon of the Ring” Auliffe (49-0).
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