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Floyd Mayweather Jr. (born February 24, 1977) is a native of Grand Rapids, MI, and son of former Welterweight contender Floyd Mayweather Sr. (also known as the head trainer of Oscar De La Hoya). Floyd Jr, or Little Floyd as he is sometimes referred to, is currently known as one of the top weight-for-weight athletes in the world of professional boxing. Floyd Jr. fought as a featherweight on the U.S. Olympic team in 1996, and went on to win his first professional title with an eighth round stoppage of veteran Genaro "Chicanito" Hernandez in 1998, at the 130 lb weight limit. From there, Floyd went on to some high profile defenses of his title against perennial contender Angel Manfredy and former WBC world featherweight champion Goyo Vargas before meeting fellow undefeated 130 lb (59 kg) titleholder Diego "Chico" Corrales in the first highly anticipated matchup of the 2001 calendar year. Floyd beat Corrales by knockout in 10 rounds, after scoring 5 knockdowns. Corrales' corner threw in the towel, thereby making Floyd one of that year's claimants to boxing's mythical pound-for-pound title. (Weight-for-weight is a hypothetical concept created by boxing fans and writers in order to compare fighters across the various weight divisions, as though all the athletes were of roughly the same size.)
Since that match, Floyd has gone on to claim a world title in the 135 lb (61 kg) division, against rugged veteran Jose Luis Castillo, and defended it several times as well. As of 2005, Floyd is campaigning at 140 lb (64 kg). He recently defeated WBC Champion and fan favorite Arturo Gatti by a sixth round knockout to add the WBC's world Jr. Welterweight title to his resume.