Mayweather's journey is all about the Money

Floyd Mayweather Jnr

Nickname Money
Boxing record 49 wins (26 KOs), 0 losses
Age 40
Height 5ft 8in/173cm
Reach 72in/183cm
Stance Orthodox
Weight in last fight 146lbs (v A Berto 12/09/2015)
Heaviest weight 151lbs (v M Cotto 05/05/2012)

Regarded by many as pound-for-pound the best boxer of all time, Floyd Mayweather Jnr has dominated boxing inside and outside the ring since the turn of the century.

If he beats Conor McGregor his record will read 50-0, eclipsing the great heavyweight Rocky Marciano who had previously held the best undefeated record for a world champion.

His list of opponents reads like a who's who of former champions, and such has been his dominance over the years that despite taking on powerful opponents such as Miguel Cotto, Canelo Alvarez, Manny Pacquiao, Ricky Hatton, Jose Luis Castillo, Marcos Maidana and many more, he has rarely been hurt, never mind looked like losing.

Plagued by hand injuries in the early part of his career, Mayweather has refined his style to that of a defensive, counter-punching master, relying on skill and reflexes rather than power to bamboozle opponents and becoming famous for the shoulder roll defence taught to him by his father.

He is also the most accurate puncher since the introduction of computer ratings system CompuBox, having the highest plus–minus ratio in recorded boxing history.

Mayweather was born to box. His father Floyd Snr and uncles Roger and Jeff were all professionals, and Floyd Jnr was always going to follow in their footsteps.

An amateur record of 84–8 won him three national Golden Gloves championships and earned him a place on the US Olympic team at the 1996 Atlanta games. But he lost a controversial 10-9 decision to Bulgarian Serafim Todorov in the semi-finals, when even the referee raised Mayweather's hand after the bout thinking had won.

That marked the end of his amateur days and the start of a pro career that would break all records.

But perhaps his greatest achievements have been outside the ring. After years of fighting as a pro Mayweather felt he wasn't getting the respect or the paydays that he deserved, so he changed his nickname from 'Pretty Boy' to 'Money', and made gratuitous overindulgence his trademark.

That proved to be a masterstroke of business acumen, and propelled him from run-of-the-mill boxing champ to the highest-paid sports star in the word, with lovers and haters alike buying his pay-per-views in droves - Mayweather's earnings from the Pacquiao fight alone were rumoured to be around $220m. Controversy and jail-time only served to drive up buys of his pay-per-views and put more money in his pocket.

The only question that remains is at 40 years old and after two years out of the ring will Mayweather finally break Marciano's record and reach 50-0, or will his legacy be thrown into the trash by a young Irish lion making his boxing debut?