Floyd Mayweather had a tendency to make fights look effortless during his peak, but one was easier than the rest.
Only a handful of fighters were able to ask questions of Mayweather during his unblemished 50-0 career.
There was a nip-and-tuck affair with Oscar De La Hoya in 2007 and of course, Mayweather’s first fight with Jose Luis Castillo in 2002, which many experts felt he lost.
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Marcos Maidana also pushed Mayweather all the way in their inaugural encounter in 2014, while Shane Mosley had ‘TBE’ in the most trouble when he rocked him with a series of clubbing rights during the second round of their all-action 2010 clash.
But when it comes to his easiest fight, the list is much harder to narrow down.
Several of the journeyman he laid waste to in the early portion of his career could easily qualify, while he won almost every second of his final bow with dual-weight UFC champion Conor McGregor.
But the most straightforward victory of his career, according to the man himself, was his points win over a young Canelo Alvarez.
“It didn’t matter if Canelo ate his PED steak or not this night, this was by far the easiest fight of my career!” Mayweather wrote on Instagram in 2018.
“Connor McQuitter was a way better fighter than Canelo’s cheating a** and I beat the brakes off him too!
“It takes me 36 mins or less to make $300million plus. It literally takes me one night and one fight to make what you might make in five years and 11 fights!
“So really, who’s still winning? You do the math!”
Mayweather made the remarks after Canelo called him out for a rematch following the news that he was considering reversing his retirement.
Mayweather’s ‘PED steak’ claim is in reference to Canelo testing positive clenbuterol in 2018, with the latter citing contaminated meat in his homeland as the reason for it.
Canelo was subsequently suspended for six months from February 2018 before making a return in September of that year for his delayed rematch with Gennady Golovkin.
Mayweather and Canelo squared off in 2013 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in a super welterweight title unification bout.
Canelo was 23 years old at the time and the WBC and Ring Magazine champion at 154lbs while Mayweather was entering the twilight of his career at 36 and held the WBA strap.
Mayweather negotiated the fight at 152lbs – 2lbs lighter than the Mexican had been comfortable at – and proceeded to dominate him for 12 rounds.
However, the scorecards didn’t reflect Mayweather’s shutout display.
A 117-111 scorecard submitted by Craig Metcalfe was the most accurate.
The 116-112 in his favour from Dave Moretti didn’t quite tell the full story of the fight while CJ Ross’ 114-114 draw is one of the most controversial scorecards in the history of the sport.
So controversial, in fact, that the embattled judge chose to step away from the sport after receiving heavy criticism from fans, the press and Mayweather.
“I thought it was a joke, I was kind of shocked but I am not the judge,” he said.
“My job is to go out there, fight and leave the fight in the judges’ hands.”
