Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Victoriano Sosa was a professional boxing match contested on April 19, 2003 for the WBC and The Ring lightweight titles.
Background Having moved up to lightweight and then defeated José Luis Castillo twice in 2002 to capture his second world title, Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s first defense of 2003 was announced to be against little-known Victoriano Sosa. Sosa was ranked as the number-five lightweight contender by the WBC, but had seldom fought outside his native Dominican Republic and lost his only other title fight to IBF champion Paul Spadafora. Before settling on Sosa, Mayweather's promoter Bob Arum had attempted to pit Mayweather against Spadafora in a unification bout tentatively set to take place in New York City's Madison Square Garden, but Spadafora turned down a reported $1,000,000 offer to pursue another unification bout with Leonard Doroftei. The fight was held in the non-traditional boxing market of Fresno, California after Arum was unable to get Madison Square Garden or any of the Las Vegas Valley area casinos to accept the fight.Mayweather on Foe Sosa: "I'm Going to Play with Him, Las Vegas Sun article, 2003-04-17 Retrieved on 2025-01-16 This would be boxing's first world title fight to take place in the city of Fresno.Mayweather Is Far From Bright Lights, L.A. Times article, 2003-04-19 Retrieved on 2025-01-16
The Fight Mayweather cruised to an easy victory, winning lopsidedly by unanimous decision. One judge had Mayweather winning by a score of 119–109 (11 rounds to one) while the other two scored the fight 118–110 (10 rounds to two) also in Mayweather's favor. Fighting his usual defensive style, Mayweather held Sosa, who threw over 100 more punches than Mayweather, to a measly 14% success rate as Sosa landed just 79 of 565 thrown punches. Mayweather used his jab to his advantage as he frequently landed the punch to both Sosa's body and head, hitting Sosa 147 times for a 60% success rate while Sosa only mustered 12 landed jabs of his own.Mayweather claims unanimous decision over Sosa, ESPN article, 2003-04-19 Retrieved on 2025-01-17
HBO unofficial scorer Harold Lederman scored the fight 116–112 (eight rounds to four).
Fight card Confirmed bouts: Weight Class Weight vs. Method Round NotesLightweight135 lbs.Floyd Mayweather Jr. (c)def.Victoriano Sosa UD12/12Super Lightweight140 lbs.Miguel Cottodef.Joel Perez KO4/10Lightweight135 lbs.Jenifer Alcorndef.Mia St. JohnUD8/8x2Middleweight160 lbs.Rodney Jonesdef.Gilbert JacksonTKO3/8Cruiserweight200 lbs.Eduardo Escobedodef.Nestor Hugo PaniaguaKO6/6Welterweight147 lbs.Frank Mondejardef.Billy ParvinKO1/4
Broadcasting Country Broadcaster Sky Sports HBO
References