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30 little-known facts about Floyd Mayweather Jr.

By Zachary Alapi

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) /
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17. Mayweather has been featured in WWE

It will come as little surprise that Floyd Mayweather Jr. has taken advantage of the marketing machine that is WWE. Mayweather first appeared on WWE’s “No Way Out” pay-per-view, which took place on February 17, 2008, and represented Mayweather trying his hand at new strategies for earning money and enhancing his celebrity in the wake of his first retirement from boxing.

After sucker punching Big Show on “No Way Out,” Mayweather knocked the behemoth out at WrestleMania XXIV using brass knuckles. Mayweather would also go on to guest host Raw in 2009. Interestingly, Mayweather’s foray in WWE came as he had developed into boxing’s most marketable attraction following a decision win over Oscar De La Hoya, but it was only in the ensuing years that Mayweather would start to break records as an A-side in boxing.

Make no mistake, Mayweather’s WWE appearances were lucrative. He was reportedly paid $20 million for wrestling Big Show at WrestleMania, an exorbitant amount that would become commonplace for Mayweather as a baseline for boxing matches that would also net him large percentages of pay-per-view profits.

Also, it’s completely fitting that Floyd Mayweather Jr. has experience with the spectacle that is WWE given that he’s now fighting Conor McGregor. The Mayweather-McGregor “World Tour,” to put it plainly, borrowed the best (or worst) aspects of WWE’s promotional playbook.

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