With Mayweathers in spotlight, a look at boxing’s other notable father/son combos

Floyd Mayweather Jr’s relationship with his father has often been fractious, although the pair reunited as fighter-trainer two years ago. Mayweather Sr will be in his son’s corner again on Saturday night at the MGM Grand, where they will plot Manny Pacquiao’s undoing. We look at some of boxing’s other father-son teams, which have had varying degrees of success.

Roy Jones Jr/Roy Jones Sr

A world champion in several divisions from middleweight to heavyweight, the American and his father had a complex relationship. Having introduced his son to boxing, “Big Roy” trained him in the early days of his career, but Jones Jr was unable to cope with his father’s domineering, which some say bordered abuse. He fired him in 1992, after Jones Sr shot dead his son’s dog for biting another member of the family. Under Alton Merkerson, Jones Jr won a variety of world titles and ruled for a decade as boxing’s best pound-for-pound fighter. In 2005, Jones Sr was back in his son’s corner for the rematch with Antonio Tarver. Defeated, the two again parted company.

Shane Mosley/Jack Mosley

With world titles across three divisions, Mosley was named Ring Magazine’s best pound-for-pound boxer in 2000 and 2001. His father, himself an amateur fighter, trained “Sugar” Shane from the age of 8 and would later also become his manager. The pair enjoyed huge success together, but following back-to-back defeats to Ronal “Winky” Wright in 2004, Mosley fired his father. Jack was criticised for his inability to make strategic adjustments between the defeats. They remained on amicable terms and reunited two years later for the bout against Fernando Vargas, which Shane won. Jack stayed with his son and was in his corner for his final fight in 2013. Shane now trains his son, Shane Mosley Jr.

Joe Calzaghe/Enzo Calzaghe

One of the most successful father-son partnerships, Enzo Calzaghe learnt the fight game working as an assistant trainer to Paul Williams at a boxing club in Cardiff, Wales, where Joe attended. Originally from Italy, Enzo replaced Williams when his son was 18. He was notoriously strict when it came to matters related to the ring. Team Calzaghe thrived, with Joe holding the WBO Super Middleweight title for more than 10 years, successfully defending it 21 times. He is the longest-serving super middleweight world champion in history. Joe retired undefeated in 2009, with 46 victories from 46 bouts, while his father continued training. In 2007, Enzo was voted Trainer of the Year by Ring Magazine and also collected an award for best coach from the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE