30 little-known facts about Floyd Mayweather Jr.
![LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 14: Floyd Mayweather Jr. reacts to the crowd during the Floyd Mayweather Jr. v Conor McGregor World Press Tour event at SSE Arena on July 14, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 14: Floyd Mayweather Jr. reacts to the crowd during the Floyd Mayweather Jr. v Conor McGregor World Press Tour event at SSE Arena on July 14, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/470a4942014133b15aced71166c6a88554f5f4b95b7f5819f14b90461902549b.jpg)
18. He used to have a much cooler nickname: Pretty Boy
Once upon a time, Floyd Mayweather Jr. used to go by the moniker “Pretty Boy” — a reflection of his boyish grin, unmarked face (thanks to practically never getting hit) and overall demeanor. When Mayweather was “Pretty Boy,” he scored the majority of his truly substantive wins, with his five-knockdown dissection of Diego Corrales serving as the high-water mark of a career act that saw Mayweather forced to accept significant challenges.
Then came the “Money” era. Indeed, Mayweather has a gift for marketing himself and expertly played the “heel” role in the buildup to his fight against Oscar De La Hoya, which propelled him to the lofty position of being boxing’s most bankable star. But setting financial records has too often come at the expense of quality match-ups and tests befitting his transcendent in-ring talent.
“Money” Mayweather, until an uncouth rejuvenation during the Mayweather-McGregor “World Tour,” is by and large a bland but shrewd swindler, somehow selling laughable mismatches with a countenance of calculated boredom, his call and response refrains like “hard work / dedication” blandly echoing from one promotion to the next.
The best part about the “Pretty Boy” moniker, whether intentional or not, was that it served as a nod to one of America’s most infamous bank robbers: Charles Arthur “Pretty Boy” Floyd. A bank robber — now that’s fitting.