Floyd Mayweather vs. Diego Corrales: revisiting Pretty Boy's best outing

Long before he was a boxing business juggernaut, before ‘Money May’ and ‘TBE,’ Floyd Mayweather Jnr was probably the greatest junior lightweight who ever lived. And on January 21, 2001, he delivered what likely remains his seminal performance as he dissected and repeatedly dropped Diego Corrales.

The Prelude

Mayweather and Corrales were both unbeaten 23-year-old junior lightweight titlists living in Las Vegas. The town was not, as they say, big enough for the both of them. A unification bout was inevitable, although both men had some turmoil in the build-up.

In 2000, Mayweather fired his father as his manager, replacing him with James Prince; a few months later, he also replaced him as his trainer, turning instead to his brother Roger. The familial soap opera would feature heavily in the build-up to the fight, which would take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Corrales had his own issues. While Mayweather held the WBC title, Corrales had been the IBF beltholder until his managers relinquished it on his behalf, to Corrales’ displeasure, on the grounds that he could no longer make the weight.

Doing so was clearly a struggle for Corrales, who weighed in two pounds over for the Mayweather fight and had to sweat off the excess.

Of greater significance was that Corrales was facing felony spousal abuse charges. 

Mayweather used Corrales’ legal issues to taunt him in the build-up:  “I want Diego because I’m doing it for all the battered women across America”, Mayweather said. “Just like he beat that woman, I’m going to beat him”.

The Fight

Round 1: Corrales stalked forward as Mayweather circled. One difference emerged immediately: whereas Corrales was looking for openings, Mayweather knew exactly where to find his, as he flashed jabs and started landing left hooks early.  By round's end, Mayweather was also mixing in lead rights and jabs to the body, while Corrales’ only real hint of success was a brief flurry near the end of the opening three minutes.

Round 2: Mayweather opened with a lead left hook and a right cross that Corrales partly blocked. Corrales was struggling to lay a glove on Mayweather, who fired off one-twos and slid smoothly out of the way and slipped under Corrales’ looping punches.

Already, the task for Corrales was looking daunting, as Mayweather repeatedly landed and moved before his rival could return fire.

Round 3: Corrales attempted to pin Mayweather against the ropes but, unable to fix on his target, ended up taking a three-punch combination for his trouble. Corrales didn't take quite as much punishment in this round as Mayweather seemed content to slip and counter, but he was continuing to fall farther and farther behind.

Round 4: When Corrales landed a short right as the two men came out of a clich, it was a sufficiently rare occurrence that it elicited an immediate smile from Mayweather. Just as it seemed as if the Mayweather assault may have eased off slightly, he landed a combination at the bell that had fans on their feet.

Round 5: Mayweather opened the round by stepping into his punches even as he continued to box on the retreat, letting Corrales in and countering with force. The Mayweather jab continued to snap into Corrales’ face, and after a relatively quiet couple of rounds, so too now did the left hook. There was far more snap in the punches of the nominal boxer Mayweather than of the supposed puncher Corrales, including a lead right that cracked Corrales’ jaw.

Round 6: Sensing the fight was shipping away, Corrales came out for the sixth showing greater intensity, firing a jab and attempting to pin Mayweather to the ropes. Mayweather responded with individual counters and effortless movement that soon had Corrales one again hesitant to throw.  A lead left hook from Mayweather landed cleanly near the end of the round, presaging what was about to unfold.

Round 7: The two men walked to center ring and Mayweather uncorked a hook that sent Corrales tumbling to his hands and knees.

Corrales stalked forward again, but Mayweather was the one letting his hands go, landing a punch, turning Corrales, landing another, turning him again. One, two, three jabs landed to the body, followed by hooks to body and head.  With 40 seconds remaining, another hook landed on Corrales’ chin and he went down for a second time.  Mayweather moved in for the finish, dropping Corrales to his knees for the third knockdown of the round shortly before the bell. A right hand clipped Corrales as he went down, but went unadmonished by referee Richard Steele.

Round 8: Mayweather opened the round on the front foot, standing in the pocket and firing combinations.  Corrales absorbed them and Mayweather reverted to boxing on the counter, walking Corrales into jabs and hooks.  An attempt by Corrales to pin Mayweather in a corner cane to nothing.  Between rounds, Mayweather told his corner that he had hurt his right hand; it would make no difference.

Round 9: Hurt or not, Mayweather launched several overhand rights at Corrales to start the round, before the frame settled into a familiar pattern of Corrales stalking and Mayweather maintaining distance and countering.  Corrales briefly threatened to trap Mayweather in a corner with about 50 seconds to go, but Mayweather smiled at his impudence and glided to safety.

Round 10: Corrales’ first trip to the canvas in this round was from a push; the next two were not.

Halfway through the round, another Mayweather hook sent Corrales to his knees; this time, he needed a count of right before failing himself to his feet with the help of the ropes. A pair of lead right hands sent Corrales down again; he popped back up, but as Steele counted, Corrales’ trainer and stepfather Ray Woods climbed on to the ring apron to signal surrender, to Corrales’ fury.  

Steele waved the contest off at 2:19 of the round.

With the win, Mayweather moved to 25-0 (19 KOs); Corrales fell to 33-1 (28 KOs).

The Aftermath

Mayweather and his father embraced in the ring afterward, but Corrales was feeling less charitable toward his.

“A fighter likes to go out on his back,” he complained. “I was still coherent after each knockdown. A champ should finish the fight as long as he keeps getting up. My head was clear. I worked damn hard for this fight, before and during. I kept getting up. There were only two more rounds. I wish he would have let me finish the fight.”

Still, Corrales acknowledged that Mayweather fought “a smart fight.”

Mayweather made two more defenses at 130 pounds before moving briefly to lightweight and junior welterweight. He ultimately settled at 147 pounds with a few forays up to 154, and secured wins over the likes of Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, Zab Judah, Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao before ultimately retiring with a record of 50-0 (27 KOs). He is almost universally acknowledged as the greatest boxer of his generation.

But the man who had entered the Corrales fight promising to win on behalf of the battered women of America went to jail himself in June 2012 to serve a two-month sentence for domestic abuse.

Corrales served 14 months for spousal abuse after the Mayweather fight, returning with some tune-up bouts before splitting a pair of contests with Joel Casamayor and engaging in arguably the greatest fight of all time against Jose Luis Castillo.

He then dropped three straight, and died in a motorcycle accident on May 7, 2007.

Kieran Mulvaney has written, broadcast and podcast about boxing for HBO, Showtime, ESPN and Reuters, among other outlets. He presently co-hosts the “Fighter Health Podcast” with Dr. Margaret Goodman. He also writes regularly for National Geographic, has written several books on the Arctic and Antarctic, and is at his happiest hanging out with wild polar bears. His website is .