Floyd Mayweather nicknames: why "Pretty Boy" and "Money"?

Floyd Mayweather Jr, who takes on YouTuber Logan Paul in an exhibition fight on 6 June, has been known by three main nicknames during his illustrious boxing career: "Pretty Boy", "Money" and "TBE".

What’s behind Mayweather’s nicknames?

"Pretty Boy"

Mayweather, who won world titles across five weight classes before retiring from professional boxing for a third time in 2017, picked up the moniker "Pretty Boy" because of his ability to avoid coming away from fights with cuts and bruises - thanks in no small part to his renowned defensive prowess.

The nickname was coined by fellow boxers during Mayweather's time as an amateur in the early to mid-1990s - a period that brought an Olympic gold medal in the Atlanta ’96 featherweight boxing tournament.

"Money"

Later in his career, he sought to move away from his “Pretty Boy” tag and re-christened himself as Floyd "Money" Mayweather. Speaking in 2012, he explained the change.

"The nickname 'Money' came from when I was joking and throwing money into the camera, so it stuck with me," he said. "You can’t be a 35-year-old man calling yourself 'Pretty Boy.'"

It’s by no means an inappropriate name for a sportsman who has accumulated a net worth that Forbes magazine estimated at $285m in 2018, and who once memorably boasted to a sparring partner: "My [pay] check looks like your social security number."

"TBE"

Mayweather, 44, also refers to himself by the initials "TBE", which stand for "The Best Ever". It’s a nickname that requires rather less explanation.

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