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Marciano 49-0, Mayweather 50-0 among excellent boxing careers

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Rocky Marciano undefeated heavyweight champion portrait

Boxing has produced many champions with long winning streaks, but very few retire undefeated. Two of the most celebrated undefeated careers in the sport belong to Rocky Marciano and Floyd Mayweather Jr., whose perfect records still serve as a benchmark every time another fighter begins to approach the finish line undefeated.

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Marciano retired in September 1955 with a record of 49-0 (43 KOs) after defeating Archie Moore to retain the heavyweight title. His mark became one of boxing’s most celebrated records and became the standard for an undefeated career at the highest level for decades.

Mayweather later surpassed that total, finishing his professional career with a record of 50-0 (27 KOs) after a victory over Conor McGregor in August 2017. Two years earlier, Mayweather had already scored one of the most lucrative victories in the sport, defeating Manny Pacquiao by unanimous decision in May 2015.

Several other champions came close to breaking these perfect records before suffering their first defeat at the end of their careers. Heavyweight champion Larry Holmes began his title defense in September 1985 with a 48-0 record before losing a decision to former lithe heavyweight champion and 1976 Olympic gold medalist Michael Spinks.

Brazilian legend Éder Jofre also had a long unbeaten streak before his first defeat. Jofre entered the 1965 bantamweight title fight with a record of 47-0-3 before losing a split decision to the Japanese organization Fighting Harada.

The remaining champions managed to end their careers undefeated. Welsh great Joe Calzaghe retired in November 2008 with a record of 46-0 (32 KOs) following victories over Roy Jones Jr. and Bernard Hopkins in the final stage of his career. Earlier in his championship career, Calzaghe also defeated Denmark’s Mikkel Kessler in a super middleweight unification fight.

There have been long periods of undefeated fighters in the history of boxing. According to The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Boxing by historian Harry Mullan, notable longer undefeated streaks include Packey McFarland (97 fights), Fred Dyer (94 fights), Pedro Carrasco (93 fights), Sugar Ray Robinson (91 fights) and Julio César Chávez Sr. (90 fights).

Marciano’s 49-0 and Mayweather’s 50-0 remain the most recognizable perfect records in boxing history. In a sport where even great champions often suffer defeats over the course of long careers, retiring undefeated remains one of the rarest of achievements.

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Categories Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Rocky Marciano

Last updated: 14/03/2026 at 15:08

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Boxing

Tim Bradley Predicts Canelo Alvarez vs Christian Mbilli: Hes Going to Piece Him Up

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Tim Bradley Predicts Canelo Alvarez vs Christian Mbilli: "He's Going to Piece Him Up"

Tim Bradley anticipates a “hell of a fight” unfolding between Canelo Alvarez and Christian Mbilli, but only sees one man emerging victorious on October 31.

The pair will collide in a super-middleweight contest in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with Mbilli making a first defence of his WBC world title.

He was upgraded from ‘interim’ to full champion following the retirement of Terence Crawford, who became the undisputed 168lb king by dethroning Canelo with a unanimous decision victory in September.

That same night, Mbilli defended his then-interim belt with a 10-round draw against Lester Martinez, producing a performance that aptly reflected his high-volume style.

But while the Frenchman does, indeed, force a considerable pace in the ring, many doubt that this will be enough to trump the 36-year-old Canelo.

Despite coming to the end of his decorated career, the Mexican hardly disgraced himself against Crawford and, prior to that, had remained unbeaten since his 2022 defeat to Dmitry Bivol.

Not only that, but many feel Alvarez is a more technically savvy operator than Mbilli, who throws punches in bunches but typically comes forward in straight lines.

It is partly because of this that Hall of Famer Bradley, while speaking with FightHypehas predicted a dominant victory for Canelo.

“He going to piece Mbilli’s ass up. I like Mbilli – tough guy, comes to bring the pain. It’s going to be a hell of a fight. But Canelo going to catch and shoot on his ass all night long.

“Uppercuts, hooks … it’s going to be bad. [Canelo’s] going to look like he’s back [to his best].”

By “catch and shoot”, Bradley means he is expecting Canelo to punish Mbilli with his counterpunching prowess, even if the 31-year-old keeps springing back with relentless aggression.

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Shakur Stevenson Challenges Devin Haney to Step Up Against KO Champion: You Have No Other Option

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"Shakur Stevenson Challenges Devin Haney to Step Up Against KO Champion: 'You Have No Other Option'"

Devin Haney is currently searching for his next opponent and Shakur Stevenson believes there is only one option for him.

Haney hasn’t fought since becoming a three-division world champion when he defeated Brian Norman Jr by unanimous decision to win the WBO welterweight title back in November.

He has been rumoured to face a number of opponents since then, including Stevenson himself, but it looked like ‘The Dream’ would finally settle on a mandatory showdown with Keyshawn Davis after Top Rank won the purse bid for the clash last week.

Those plans went up in smoke when Davis pulled out of the contest, and Stevenson has explained why he thinks Haney now must target a battle against unified super-welterweight champion Jaron Ennis.

“You said you’d fight Conor Benn? You said you’d find Xander. Why the f**k you don’t say you want to fight Boots now? Matter of fact, you’ve got no other option.

“There’s nobody else on the table. There’s no me, there’s no Key[shawn Davis]there’s no Rolly. Who do you go to? Boots is free. Go get him.”

Ennis previously became unified champion at welterweight before moving up to 154lbs, making an instant impact in the new division when he stopped Xander Zayas in June to win the WBA and WBO super-welterweight titles.

It remains to be seen whether Haney would have any interest in moving up in weight to take on Ennis, with ‘Boots’ also having been linked to fights against IBF champion Josh Kelly, and fellow unbeaten star Vergil Ortiz.

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New World Champion Aims to Follow Canelo and Golovkin as Top Middleweight

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"New World Champion Aims to Follow Canelo and Golovkin as Top Middleweight"

A newly-crowned world champion believes he has what it takes to follow in the footsteps of Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin by becoming the best middleweight fighter on the planet.

Canelo and Golovkin each ruled the 160lb division for a number of years, culminating in two middleweight battles between the pair and one at super-middleweight.

While ‘GGG’ may have last competed in 2022, Canelo remains active, but now fights at super-middleweight, opening the door for a fighter to step up and become the top dog in the middleweight division.

One man who believes he can do just that is Aaron McKenna, who won the vacant IBF middleweight title with a unanimous decision win over Etinosa Oliha in Dublin on Saturday.

Speaking to Sky Sports following that win, McKenna explained how he has ambitions to pick up where the likes of Canelo and Golovkin left off.

“It doesn’t matter [who’s next]whoever wants it. I’m easy to find now, I have a belt. There’s no hiding any more. I want to collect every single belt in boxing. I’m the best middleweight and super-middleweight in the world. I don’t mind jumping up.

“The middleweight division’s there to be took over. It’s been dying for years since GGG (Golovkin) and Canelo left it. I said it again, a year ago, I think I’m going to be the man to take it over.”

The other world champions at 160lbs may have a thing or two to say about McKenna’s plan, as Denzel Bentley is the current WBO champion, Carlos Adamas holds the WBC belt, and Erislandy Lara is the WBA titleholder.

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