Floyd Mayweather made opponent quit by smashing rib cage for KO in stunning welterweight debut
Floyd Mayweather announced himself to the welterweight division in the most spectacular fashion possible.
In 2005, having won world titles through from super featherweight to super lightweight, Mayweather made the move to welterweight where he would spend most of the rest of his career, and for his first opponent at 147 lbs he chose Sharmba Mitchell.
Mitchell, by his own admission, was not in his prime and he was getting ready to retire, but was a previous world champion at super lightweight.
As long as the fight lasted, Mayweather was on top, and while Mitchell toiled he was unable to do any real damage.
"I caught him with shots but I couldn’t get him with real good clean shots," Mitchell told the Ring Magazine.
And in round three, Mayweather caught Mitchell flush and dropped him, but 'Little Big Man' bravely got back to his feet and survived another few rounds.
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But, in the sixth round, as Mayweather's pressure was beginning to tell, he unleashed a hard straight right hand into the rib cage of Mitchell.
Immediately feeling the pain, Mitchell dropped to his knees and while he got back up before the end of the referee's count, it was clear that he was still in agony and so the fight was waved off.
Mitchell later admitted Mayweather was the best fighter he came up against, saying: "There’s nobody in his era like him. He was special.
"He was one of those people who could switch up in the middle of a fight. He always had great game plans and he executed them. He’s a natural."
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After getting a brief taste of the welterweight division, Mayweather went straight into a world title clash, taking on Zab Judah in his next fight.
Mayweather won by unanimous decision to become a four-weight world champion and in the coming years he transformed from 'Pretty Boy' into 'Money'.
Beating fighters such as Oscar De La Hoya, Canelo, Manny Pacquiao and Conor McGregor, and he made hundreds of millions of dollars in the process.
The self-proclaimed 'TBE' (The Best Ever) then retired for the final time, at least for now, in 2017 with an unbeaten record of 50-0.