Six degrees of separation is a theory that everyone in the world is separated by no more than six social connections.
In other words, you know someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows Queen Elizabeth. Or so the concept goes.
We’re borrowing the six degrees concept – well, sort of loosely – to connect fighters from the past to their more contemporary counterparts in our new occasional feature, “Degrees of Separation.”
Example: Let’s connect Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Super easy; we did it in two steps. Senior fought Grover Wiley, who fought Junior.
In this installment of the Boxing Junkie feature, we decided to link the late Roger Mayweather with his protege and nephew Floyd Mayweather Jr., who carried on where Uncle Roger left off when he fought for the last time in 1999.
We didn’t have to work too hard to connect them, only three steps.
Check it out:
Roger Mayweather fought …
Kostya Tszyu, who fought …
Ricky Hatton, who fought …
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
We also wanted to see how many steps it would take to link Roger Mayweather with older brother Floyd Mayweather Sr., who left boxing in 1985 but came back for one fight in 1990.
It took us five steps:
Floyd Mayweather Sr. fought …
Ray Leonard, who fought …
Hector Camacho, who fought …
Oscar De La Hoya, who fought …
Julio Cesar Chavez, who fought …
Roger Mayweather
And, finally, to complete the circle, we linked Floyd Sr. and Jr. in four steps:
Floyd Mayweather Sr. fought …
Ray Leonard, who fought …
Hector Camacho, who fought …
Oscar De La Hoya, who fought …
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Could you do it in fewer steps? Let us know via Twitter or Facebook. Or you can contact me on Twitter. And please follow us!
Read more:
Degrees of separation: Connecting John L. Sullivan to Deontay Wilder
Degrees of Separation: Linking Filipino greats Flash Elorde, Manny Pacquiao
Degrees of Separation: Linking Japanese greats Fighting Harada and Naoya Inoue
Degrees of Separation: Linking Tyson Fury to first U.K.-born heavyweight champ
Degrees of Separation: Connecting Canelo Alvarez with Mexican legends