Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a sporting great, and has been listed at 5'7.5"-5'8" (172.8 cm) throughout his pro career, and due to his athletic, slender build, he has managed to pull off this height without much questioning.
However, when you dive deeper into his opponents and compare heights, it becomes apparent that he is actually shorter than this.
So what's Floyd's real height?
Floyd Mayweather's Jr's real height is around 5'7.25 or 1.70.8 cm tall. He wakes up around 5'7.75"-5'8" and falls to around 5'7" by bedtime. If you compare his height to his opponents, it becomes clear that he is comfortably a 5'7" man.
Career Measurements
Amateurs - up to 1996
Floyd was regularly listed at 5'7" during his amateur career. This correlates with his pro career listings and could have been a legit measurement at the time. He also may have grown slightly after this measurement as he was still in his teens here.
Olympics 1996
In the 1996 Olympics, Floyd was listed at 1.68 meters. This is just over 5'6", and for sure not his adult standing height. This is most likely inaccurate, as he was listed taller before this throughout the amateurs.
Pro Career
In his pro boxing debut against Roberto Apodaca in 1996, Floyd was listed at 5'7.5" tall. In his second pro fight against Reggie Sanders we see him being moved up to 5'8". It later drops down to 5'7" vs bobby Giepert, then back up to 5'8", 5'7.5", and so on.
Basically, Floyd's height fluctuated between 5'7" and 5'8" throughout his pro career. However, later in his career when he was more established he was continuously listed at 5'8".
Whether height measurements were required before his boxing matches is uncertain, but with his height fluctuating by an inch, it could have been rounded up or down depending on the time of day he was measured, being closer to 5'8" in the morning, and 5'7" in the afternoon/evening.
Wingspan Length Compared to Height
Similar to Michael Jordan, Mayweather has a very long wingspan for his height. Typically, your wingspan will equal your height, or thereabouts. He has a wingspan of 72 inches (6 feet) which is a grand 4.5 ish inches over his height!
This was a huge advantage in the ring as he had longer arms than the majority of his opponents, and one of the reasons that he did so well throughout his career.
Height VS Opponents
Mayweather has fought opponents who have seemed both tiny and huge compared to him. Let's have a look at some of the significant fighters and their heights to help us further gauge Floyd's height.
Hatton vs Mayweather Height
Ricky Hatton has himself claimed 5'6" (167.6 cm) in the past, and photo evidence suggests he is being truthful. Mayweather was a little over an inch taller than him in their barefoot faceoffs, looking a solid 5'7.25 inches tall.
Pacquiao vs Mayweather Height
Manny Pacquiao stands at roughly 5'5" (166.4 cm). If you watch the fight then you can see clearly that Mayweather was the taller man of the pair. By how much is debatable, but I would say there is a comfortable 1.5 inch difference, putting Mayweather around the 5'7" mark.
McGregor vs Mayweather Height and Shoes
Mayweather once wore Alexander McQueen oversized shoes that give comfortable 2 inches of height at a press conference with McGregor, while 5'8.5" (174 cm) McGregor was in 1 inch loafers. When they squared off there was around an inch difference, putting Mayweather comfortably in the 5'7" range.
His Tallest Opponent
Logan Paul now stands as the tallest man Mayweather has ever fought. His height comes in at 6'1.5" (185.4 cm) On his boxing record, however, Tony Pep holds the crown, standing at 6'1" (182.9 cm) tall.
It becomes harder to judge height with such a difference, but In the infamous face-off where Jake Paul stole Floyd's hat, Mayweather in shoes a similar thickness to Logan looks almost a whole head shorter. Let's just say if he was a true 5'8" man then he would appear taller here.
His Shortest Opponent
Out of his 50 professional fights, the shortest boxer I could find him facing was Felipe Garcia,
(14-10-1997), and Garcia stood at 5'2" (157.5 cm) tall. Here Mayweather looks considerably taller than his opponent (about 5-6 inches), taking full advantage of his reach and height.
Height Claims
Floyd has claimed his height as 5'8 for years, sometimes stretching to 5'9". I feel he truly believes he is this height, and rightly so, as being listed as this for so many years, it is easy to believe something everyone else does.
The video below is a recent example of his 5'8" claim.
Watch from the 1-minute mark:
The Verdict
Floyds 5'8" claims are not so far off of the truth, as he probably wakes around this mark (slightly under is possible), shrinking down to around 5'7.25" throughout the majority of the day, and going to bed just over the 5'7" mark.
Therefore for the majority of the day he stands around 5'7.25", so we can claim this as his real height.
Family Heights
- Floyd Mayweather Sr., Father, 5'8" (172.8 cm)
- Roger Mayweather, Uncle, 5'7" (170.2 cm)
- Jeff Mayweather, Uncle, 5'6.5" (168.9 cm)
- Iyanna Mayweather, Daughter, 4'11" (149.9 cm)
- Jirah Mayweather, Daughter, 5'1" (154.9 cm)
- Zion Mayweather, Son, 5'9.5" (176.5 cm)
- Koraun Mayweather, Son, 5'6" (167.64 cm)
- Tom Brady, Supporter/Friend, 6'4.25" (193.7 cm)