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| Date | May 22, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Boardwalk Hall,Atlantic City, New Jersey,U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBC Super Lightweight title eliminator | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mayweather wins via unanimous decision (119–108, 119–107, 118–108) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs.DeMarcus Corley was a professional boxing match contested on May 22, 2004.[1]
After successfully defending hisWBC andThe Ring for the third time in his previous fight againstPhillip N'dou on November 1, 2003, Floyd Mayweather Jr. confirmed that the fight would be his last in the lightweight division as he would be moving up the 140-pound super lightweight division.[2] Mayweather expressed interest in facing the soon-to-be-WBC super lightweight championArturo Gatti, and negotiations began in February 2004 to designate a fight between Mayweather and formerIBF lightweight championPaul Spadafora, who was also moving up in weight, as a WBC super lightweight title eliminator with the winner becoming themandatory challenger to Gatti.[3] PromoterBob Arum was looking to bring the Mayweather–Spadafora fight toMadison Square Garden on May 8, but theNew York State Athletic Commission refused to license the fight as Spadafora was awaiting trial for the 2003 shooting of his girlfriend, causing the fight to fall through.[4] Instead, it was announced in March that Mayweather would be matched up against replacement opponent, formerWBO junior welterweight champion DeMarcus Corley.[5] Corley had not fought since losing his title toZab Judah 10 months prior, but denied that the length layoff would effect him as he had partaken in the training camps ofRicardo Mayorga andKostya Tszyu as a sparring partner since his last fight.[6]
Mayweather dominated Corley en route to a unanimous decision victory, with all three judges scoring the fight lopsidedly in Mayweather's favor; 119–108, 119–107 and 118–108. Corley was aggressive and attempted to press the action during the early portion of the fight and managed to stagger Mayweather in the third and fourth rounds, but over the course of the fight, Mayweather used his superior defense to keep Corley off balance and effectively counter-punched. Corley was down on the canvas seven times during the bout, though only two were official knockdowns while the remainder were ruled slips or pushes. The first knockdown came in the eighth round after a Mayweather combination forced a tired Corley to take a knee. In the tenth, Mayweather again sent Corley down on his knee after landing a five-punch combination. The finalCompuBox punch stats showed Mayweather landing 283 of 600 thrown punches for a 47% success rate while Corley landed 150 of 657 thrown punches for a 23% success rate.[7]
Confirmed bouts:[8]
| Weight Class | Weight | vs. | Method | Round | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Super Lightweight | 140 lbs. | Floyd Mayweather Jr. | def. | DeMarcus Corley | UD | 12/12 | note 1 |
| Middleweight | 160 lbs. | Anthony Thompson | def. | Jason Naugler | UD | 8/8 | |
| Welterweight | 147 lbs. | Dmitriy Salita | def. | Rocky Martinez | UD | 8/8 | |
| Welterweight | 147 lbs. | Arthur Medina | def. | Scott DePompe | TKO | 4/6 | |
| Super Middleweight | 168 lbs. | Dennis Sharpe | def. | Earl Allen | TKO | 4/6 | |
| Cruiserweight | 190 lbs. | Victor Paz | def. | Karim Shabbazz | UD | 4/4 | |
| Lightweight | 135 lbs. | Carney Bowman | def. | David Maund | UD | 4/4 |
^Note 1 WBC Super Lightweight Title Eliminator
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
 United States | HBO |
| Preceded by | Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s bouts 22 May 2004 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | DeMarcus Corley's bouts 22 May 2004 | Succeeded by vs.Darryl Tyson |