Floyd Mayweather Jr. was a professional fighter.
The Best Fighter ESPY Award ( ESPY means Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly ) was created by the cable television network ESPN and has been presented annually since 2007 to the professional or amateur boxer or mixed martial artist , irrespective of nationality , gender , weight class , or sanctioning body or league , adjudged to be the best in a given calendar year . Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. ( born Floyd Joy Sinclair ; February 24 , 1977 ) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2015 , and currently works as a boxing promoter . Widely considered to be one of the greatest boxers of all time , undefeated as a professional , and a five-division world champion , Mayweather won fifteen world titles and the lineal championship in four different weight classes ( twice at welterweight ) .