Roger Mayweather (April 24, 1961 – March 17, 2020) was an American boxing trainer and former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who competed from 1981 to 1999. He was a two-division world champion, having held the WBA and ''The Ring''

super featherweight Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a boxing weight classes, weight division in professional boxing, contested between and . The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although firs ...

titles from 1983 to 1984, and the WBC

light welterweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

title from 1987 to 1989. Additionally he held the IBO light welterweight title in 1994, and the IBO

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

title from 1994 to 1995. Mayweather was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the son of Bernice (Ambrose) and Theartha Mayweather. He was a part of the Mayweather boxing family: his brothers are

Floyd Mayweather Sr. Floyd Joy Mayweather (born October 19, 1952) is an American boxing trainer and former professional boxer who competed from 1973 to 1990. Fighting at welterweight during the 1970s and 1980s, Mayweather Sr. was known for his defensive abilities ...

and

Jeff Mayweather Jeff Mayweather (born July 4, 1964) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 1997, and held the IBO super featherweight title from 1994 to 1995. He has since worked as a boxing and mixed martial arts trainer. Professio ...

, and his nephew is

Floyd Mayweather Jr. Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. (''né'' Sinclair; February 24, 1977) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer. He currently owns a team in the NASCAR Cup Series named The Money Team Racing. As a professional boxer he competed b ...

Roger served as Mayweather Jr.'s trainer from 2000 to 2012. Under Roger's guidance Floyd Mayweather Jr. became one of the biggest names in the sport of boxing and one of the pound for pound greats.

Professional boxing career

Super featherweight and lightweight

Mayweather, who was 64–4 as an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

, made his professional debut on July 29, 1981, against Andrew Ruiz. Mayweather won by

technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

(TKO) in the first round. In his thirteenth fight, Mayweather beat Ruben Muñoz Jr. for the

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

- USBA

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

title. After improving his record to 14–0, Mayweather earned a title shot on January 19, 1983, against lineal and WBA super featherweight champion,

Samuel Serrano Samuel Serrano (born November 17, 1952) is a Puerto Rican former professional boxer who competed from 1969 to 1984 and made a two-fight comeback from 1996 to 1997. He was a two-time super featherweight world champion, having held the WBA title ...

. Serrano entered the bout with a record of 49–3–1 and had lost only once since first winning the title in 1976. Nonetheless, Mayweather led on all three judges' scorecards before he beat Serrano by TKO in round eight and effectively ended Serrano's career. Mayweather made two successful title defenses against Jorge Alvarado and

Benedicto Villablanca Benedicto Villablanca (born July 13, 1957) is a former professional boxer who came close to becoming Chile's first professional boxing world champion. Villablanca was born in Villarrica, Chile. He became interested in boxing as a child. He ...

before suffering his first loss via first-round

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

against

Rocky Lockridge Rick "Rocky" Lockridge (January 10, 1959 – February 7, 2019) was an American professional boxer. He is perhaps best known for having handed Roger Mayweather his first defeat—a first-round knockout in just 98 seconds—earning him the WBA a ...

on February 22, 1984. Mayweather won the IBF-USBA super featherweight title when he gave

Kenny Baysmore Kenny Baysmore (born June 1, 1961 in Washington, D.C.), nicknamed The Technician, is an American former professional boxer. Baysmore won the 1979 National Golden Gloves bantamweight title. He turned professional in 1981, and after a successful c ...

his first loss, by TKO in round three. Thus, Mayweather earned the opportunity to fight against

WBC super featherweight champion This is a list of WBC world champions, showing every world champion certificated by the World Boxing Council (WBC). The WBC is one of the four major governing bodies in professional boxing, and certifies world champions in 18 different weight cl ...

Julio César Chávez Julio César Chávez González (; born July 12, 1962), also known as Julio César Chávez Sr., is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 2005. A multiple-time world champion in three weight divisions, Chávez was liste ...

, on July 7, 1985. Although Mayweather won the first round on the judges' scorecards, he was knocked down twice in round two and lost by TKO. On November 28, 1986, Mayweather beat

Sammy Fuentes Sammy Fuentes (born February 18, 1964) in Loíza, Puerto Rico Loíza (Spanish pronunciation: ) is a town and municipality on the northeastern coast of Puerto Rico, north of Canóvanas; east of Carolina, Puerto Rico; and west of Río Grande, P ...

for the WBC Continental Americas lightweight title. In his next bout, on March 28, 1987, Mayweather fought against

Pernell Whitaker Pernell Whitaker Sr. (January 2, 1964 – July 14, 2019) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2001, and subsequently worked as a boxing trainer. He was a four-weight world champion, having won titles at lightweight, ligh ...

for the WBC- NABF lightweight title. Mayweather was knocked down in round one, but he knocked down Whitaker in round nine. Whitaker won by

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighter ...

(UD).

Light welterweight

After Mayweather moved up to the

division, he fought against

WBC light welterweight champion This is a list of WBC world champions, showing every world champion certificated by the World Boxing Council (WBC). The WBC is one of the four major governing bodies in professional boxing, and certifies world champions in 18 different weight cla ...

, Rene Arredondo, on November 12, 1987. Mayweather led on the scorecards and knocked down Arredondo three times in round six to win by TKO. Mayweather made four successful title defenses before he encountered Mexican champion Julio César Chávez again on May 13, 1989. Prior to this fight, Mayweather was being called by several boxing writers as "The Mexican assassin" due to his numerous wins over Mexican fighters during the last few years. Chávez was still undefeated at the time, and with a 63–0 record, he was becoming a legend. Mayweather retired after round ten due to the body damage inflicted by Chávez. Mayweather won the WBA Americas light welterweight title on April 5, 1990, from Ildemar Paisan. He fought Rafael Pineda for the vacant IBF light welterweight title on December 7, 1991, but he lost by KO in round nine. On March 14, 1993, Mayweather beat former

WBA lightweight champion This is a list of WBA world champions, showing every world champion certified by the World Boxing Association (WBA). The list also includes champions certified by the National Boxing Association (NBA), the predecessor to the WBA. Boxers who won t ...

Livingstone Bramble Ras-I Alujah Bramble (born Livingstone Bramble on September 3, 1960) is the former WBA Lightweight boxing Champion of the World. Bramble was raised on Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. He became the first world champion from Saint Kitts and Nev ...

by corner stoppage in round five. Bramble had defeated Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini twice for the title in the mid-1980s. Mayweather defeated Eduardo Montes for the IBO light welterweight title by third-round KO on May 28, 1994. Less than three weeks later, he defeated Marco Antonio Ramirez by TKO in round three.

Welterweight

In his next fight, against Johnny Bizzarro on August 4, 1994, Mayweather won the IBO welterweight title by unanimous decision. He defended the belt once in 1995. On June 25, 1995, Mayweather fought the 14–0

Kostya Tszyu Konstantin Borisovich "Kostya" Tszyu (; rus, Константин Борисович «Костя» Цзю, , kənstɐnʲˈtʲin bɐˈrisəvʲɪtɕ ˈkosʲtʲə ˈdzːʲu; born 19 September 1969) is a Russian Australian former professional b ...

for the IBF light welterweight title. Tszyu won by unanimous decision. Mayweather won his last title—the IBA welterweight title—on March 12, 1997, when he beat Carlos Miranda via twelfth-round TKO. Mayweather's final bout was a

majority decision A majority decision (MD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and others sports involving striking. In a majority decision, two of the three judges agree on which ...

victory over Javier Francisco Mendez on May 8, 1999. He ended his career with a total of nine major and minor titles in four weight classes.

Black Mamba

When asked about his ring nickname, Roger stated: "It's funny because I wanted a boxing nickname that wouldn’t be common to most people. One day when I was flipping through channels and I came upon this channel showing different reptiles, and they were showing the

black mamba The black mamba (''Dendroaspis polylepis'') is a species of highly venomous snake belonging to the family Elapidae. It is native to parts of sub-Saharan Africa. First formally described by Albert Günther in 1864, it is the second-longest ...

, one of the most deadly snakes in the world. I loved the way the mamba attacked so quietly, but when he hit you he just hit you one time and the poison was in you. That reminded me of myself right there."

Training career

When

Floyd Mayweather Jr Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. ('' né'' Sinclair; February 24, 1977) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer. He currently owns a team in the NASCAR Cup Series named The Money Team Racing. As a professional boxer he compete ...

. turned pro in 1996, Roger Mayweather turned his attention away from his own competitive boxing career and focused more on being the younger Mayweather's trainer. Roger trained Floyd Jr. until early 1998, when

was released from prison and became Mayweather Jr's trainer. However, soon after Mayweather defeated

Gregorio Vargas Gregorio Vargas Hernández, better known as ''Goyo Vargas'' (born 27 October 1970) is a Mexican retired professional boxer who held the WBC featherweight title in 1993. Professional career Vargas was born in Santa María Natívitas, a small com ...

on March 18, 2000, Mayweather Jr. fired Mayweather Sr. as his trainer and brought uncle Roger back. Roger Mayweather garnered national attention during and after

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Zab Judah Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Zab Judah, billed as ''Sworn Enemies'', was a boxing match for the IBF welterweight title which took place on April 8, 2006 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Paradise, Nevada between IBF welterweight champion Zab Judah a ...

on April 8, 2006. Near the conclusion of the tenth round, Judah hit Mayweather with a left hand that was clearly

below the belt Mainly used in combat sports such as boxing and kickboxing, below the belt refers to all the area of the body that lies below the line of the opponent's navel,

and followed up with a right-handed

rabbit punch A rabbit punch is a blow to the back of the head or to the base of the skull. It is considered especially dangerous because it can damage the cervical vertebrae and subsequently the spinal cord, which may lead to serious and irreparable spinal c ...

. After referee

Richard Steele Sir Richard Steele (bap. 12 March 1672 – 1 September 1729) was an Anglo-Irish writer, playwright, and politician, remembered as co-founder, with his friend Joseph Addison, of the magazine ''The Spectator''. Early life Steele was born in Du ...

called time with five seconds remaining in the round, Roger Mayweather entered the ring, but was restrained by Steele. Judah's father and trainer,

Yoel Judah Yoel Judah (born July 23, 1956) is the eldest member of the Brooklyn-based Judah boxing family. He has been a martial artist, three-time world champion kickboxer, and boxing trainer and manager. Boxing and kickboxing career Johnny Saxton, w ...

, entered the ring and swung at Roger. Zab then went after Roger—taking a swing and grappling with him until security broke it up and cleared the ring. Roger was ejected, but the boxers finished the remaining two rounds, and Mayweather won by unanimous decision. Five days after the fight, the

Nevada State Athletic Commission The Nevada State Athletic Commission (also known as the Nevada Athletic Commission or NSAC) regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of Nevada, including licensure and supervision of promoters, boxers, kickboxers, ...

decided not to overturn the result of the bout, but Roger Mayweather was fined

US $ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

200,000 and suspended for one year.

Controversy

Mayweather was arrested in August 2009 in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

for allegedly attacking one of his former boxers, female boxer Melissa St. Vil. Mayweather allegedly hit her several times in the ribs, then tried to choke her, causing her to spit up blood when police arrived. Appearing on the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

series ''

24/7 In commerce and industry, 24/7 or 24-7 service (usually pronounced "twenty-four seven") is service that is available at any time and usually, every day. An alternate orthography for the numerical part includes 24×7 (usually pronounced "twenty ...

'', Mayweather admitted to choking St. Vil in an effort to restrain her, but denied that he physically struck her.

Death

Mayweather died on March 17, 2020, in Las Vegas,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

at age 58, after years of deteriorating health. Floyd opened up about Roger's health back in 2015, and thinks that boxing is the main cause of it. He did not specify the cause, but said his uncle's “health was failing him for several years.” Roger Mayweather had a number of long-term health problems, including diabetes. "My uncle Roger Mayweather has lost a lot of memory from the sport of boxing, he's only in his 50s, but it seems like he's an old man in his 80s." Floyd said.Il ricordo El boxeo de luto: excampeón Roger Mayweather falleció a los 58 años

Professional boxing record

References

External links

*
Roger Mayweather's letter to the NSAC
at Cyber Boxing Zone {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayweather, Roger Boxers from Michigan Sportspeople from Grand Rapids, Michigan World boxing champions Welterweight boxers Super-featherweight boxers Light-welterweight boxers Lightweight boxers World Boxing Association champions World Boxing Council champions World light-welterweight boxing champions World super-featherweight boxing champions 1961 births 2020 deaths American boxing trainers American male boxers African-American boxers 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people