Genaro Hernández vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Date	October 3, 1998
Venue	Las Vegas Hilton, Winchester, Nevada, U.S.
Title(s) on the line	WBC super featherweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer Genaro Hernández Floyd Mayweather Jr. Nickname Chicanito Pretty Boy Hometown Los Angeles, California, U.S. Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S. Purse $600,000 $150,000 Pre-fight record 38–1–1 17–0 Age 32 years, 4 months 21 years, 7 months Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) Weight 130 lb (59 kg) 130 lb (59 kg) Style Orthodox Orthodox Recognition WBC Super Featherweight Champion
Result
Mayweather wins via 8th-round corner retirement

Genaro Hernández vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. was a professional boxing match contested on October 3, 1998 for the WBC super featherweight title. The fight took place at the Las Vegas Hilton in Winchester, Nevada and was Mayweather's first world title fight.

In July 1998, it was announced that reigning WBC super featherweight champion Genaro Hernández would meet undefeated up-and-comer Floyd Mayweather Jr. on October 3 that same year. The 21-year old Mayweather was less than two years into his professional career when the fight was made official but was a perfect 17–0 with 13 knockouts. Despite his relative inexperience and having not yet fought a fighter the caliber Hernández, Mayweather and his father and trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. insisted that promoter Bob Arum make the fight with Arum explaining that the younger Mayweather "wants to make his mark and establish himself as a star" by defeating Hernández. Hernández, a 32-year old veteran of 40 professional fights had lost only once at the time of his fight with Mayweather, being bested by Oscar De La Hoya three years earlier in a lightweight title fight. Hernández, who admitted that he had took Mayweather as an opponent due to the lucrative $600,000 payday he received, opinioned that his experience and intellegence would give him the edge over his much younger opponent explaining "I think that's an advantage for me. He may be too excited and that could lead to him making a few errors. It could drain him, little by little." However, Mayweather countered that he was "younger, faster and stronger. I'm the complete package." When the fight was first announced, the betting odds were even, though Mayweather was installed as a -160 favorite by the time of the fight.^[1][2]

In what would become a precursor to his subsequent fights, Mayweather dominated Hernández through the course of eight rounds, taking nearly every round on all three of the judge's scorecards. Mayweather landed over half of his thrown punches, scoring 221 of 412 thrown punches for a 54% success rate, while Hernández struggled mightily to land sustained offense and only landed 103 of 314 punches. By the end of the eight round, with Hernández taking a lot of abuse from Mayweather and his right eye beginning to swell shut, Hernández's brother and trainer Rudy informed Genaro that he would not allow him to go back out for the ninth round. After referee Jay Nady confirmed this, the fight was stopped, giving Mayweather the victory by corner retirement.^[3]

Confirmed bouts:^[4]

^Note 1 For WBC Super Featherweight Title

Country	Broadcaster
United States	HBO