Who is Roberto Apodaca, the Mexican boxer against whom Floyd Mayweather made his 1996 pro boxing debut?
Roberto Apodaca is a Mexican fighter who offered Floyd Mayweather the first challenge of his career. The 5'7" boxer was born in Mexico and resided in El Centro, California, USA.
While Mayweather's long and successful career spanned across decades, Apodaca was forced to call time on his career a mere three years following his foray into the realm of professional boxing.
The fight against Floyd Mayweather, which went down at the Texas Station Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, marked Roberto Apodaca's pro debut back in 1996. The pair fought in the super-featherweight division.
An unsuccessful outing against 'Money' for Apodaca was followed by two more losses before he found a win. It came against Juan Jose Martinez by way of TKO at the Palenque del Parque Vicente Guerrero in Mexicali, Mexico, back in October 1997.
The victory, however, was followed by two more defeats, marking the last straw for Apodaca, who promptly hung his gloves up for good soon thereafter.
A look back at Floyd Mayweather vs. Roberto Apodaca
October 1996 saw a 19-year-old Floyd Mayweather walk into the first pro-boxing fight of his career against a fellow debutant in Roberto Apodaca. The teenage Mayweather managed to make short work of his Mexican contemporary, putting him away within two rounds.
Floyd Mayweather dropped Roberto Apodaca in the final seconds of the first round with a shot to the liver. However, the Mexican managed to survive the onslaught and the count to find his way back to his feet to continue on to the next round.
#OnThisDay 25 years ago, “Pretty Boy” @floydmayweather went straight into the pros following a run at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta that ended in Bronze.
Mayweather defeated Roberto Apodaca via 2nd round KO 🥊 https://t.co/VB9CaYvkdk
The second round saw Mayweather chip away at Apodaca's body with a flurry of powerful shots, having established his weakness. It was only a matter of time before Apodaca crumbled in the face of such unrelenting pressure from Mayweather, earning 'Money' a KO win in the second round.
Floyd Mayweather, who was coming off an amateur loss at the hands of Serafim Todorov, managed to make a name for himself on the combat sports circuit, one that has only grown to great heights ever since. Apodaca, on the other hand, was forced to bow out of the game after a short number of fights.