Five-division champion Floyd Mayweather is widely regarded as the gold standard in boxing. Now, his former opponents are being measured to determine who performed best against the legendary fighter. Today’s contenders include UFC double champion Conor McGregor, Canelo Alvarez, Manny Pacquiao, and others. Surprisingly, ‘The Notorious’ left a pretty few in the dust. 

‘Money’ Mayweather has fought some of the most formidable opponents in his career, and the cherry on top is that he defeated all of them. It would be difficult to include all of them, still, the most notable names are taken into account in this one. Starting with Marcos Maidana, who, by the way, landed the most punches against Mayweather is at the top.

The duo had a couple of action-packed fights in 2014—while Mayweather won both, Maidana claims to have chipped one of Mayweather’s teeth in the 3rd round of their first fight. Regardless, Maidana landed 221 punches in their first fight and 128 in their rematch. This brings us to Conor McGregor, who fought Mayweather back in 2017 after ‘Money’ had retired from the sport. 

‘The Notorious’ landed a total of 111 punches on Floyd Mayweather, which is not that far away from Canelo Alvarez, who decked Mayweather with 117 punches. Moving on to Miguel Cotto, the former super welterweight champion, who could only land 105 punches—well below McGregor’s impressive 111. 

Then there’s Shane Mosley, another legendary name from the 1990s and early 2000s. Even he couldn’t match McGregor’s punch stats, managing a mere 92 landed punches. Some notable names include Andre Berto, who landed 83 punches, and Zab Judah, just one punch behind with 82. And at the bottom, with the fewest punches landed against Mayweather—and a significant gap from McGregor—Manny Pacquiao managed only 81.

It’s surprising how, despite his lack of boxing experience, McGregor was able to land more punches on Mayweather than many seasoned boxers. And let’s not forget, Mayweather is a defensive genius, making McGregor’s performance even more impressive. 

However, the most knowledgeable boxing fans might notice one key aspect about everyone on this list—except McGregor. 

Conor McGregor didn’t actually do that great against Floyd Mayweather

Interestingly, besides McGregor, everyone else mentioned here took Floyd Mayweather to the distance—none of these fighters fell victim to Mayweather’s rare knockouts—except for McGregor. Oscar forced a split decision out of Mayweather while Maidana and Alvarez settled on a majority decision.

Despite his aggressive approach, McGregor lost to Mayweather by a 10th-round knockout. And let’s not forget, that was Mayweather’s final fight before retiring from the sport. Still, McGregor became one of the rare few to fall victim to a knockout, a feat that’s far from typical for Mayweather.

To top it off, despite a strong start and landing some eye-catching shots early on, McGregor seemed off-balance and unable to generate the power he’d showcased in the octagon. It was Mayweather who patiently allowed McGregor to exhaust himself, before stepping on the gas and securing the 10th-round knockout.

Even though McGregor, then 29, landed more punches on Mayweather than many others, he struggled to keep his hands up to defend himself. The fight ended with Floyd Mayweather landing 15 consecutive blows, relentlessly pounding the UFC legend into defeat.

That said, it’s clear that landing more punches doesn’t always equate to being the better fighter. While McGregor may dominate in the octagon for five rounds, boxing requires a much different skill set to master. What’s your take on McGregor’s higher landed punch volume?