Mayweather had an amateur record of 84-6[36] and won national Golden Gloves championships in 1993 (at 106 lb), 1994 (at 114 lb), and 1996 (at 125 lb).[37] He was given the nickname "Pretty Boy" by his amateur teammates because he had relatively few scars, a result of the defensive techniques that his father (Floyd Mayweather, Sr.) and uncle (Roger Mayweather) had taught him.[38] In his orthodox defensive stance, Mayweather—much like James Toney—often utilizes the 'shoulder roll'. The shoulder roll is an old-school boxing technique in which the right hand is held normally or slightly higher than normal, the left hand is down around the midsection, and the lead shoulder is raised high on the cheek in order to cover the chin and block punches. The right hand (from orthodox stance) is used as it normally would be to block punches coming from the other side, such as left hooks. From this stance, Mayweather blocks, slips, and deflects most of his opponents' punches, even when cornered, by twisting left and right to the rhythm of their punches.[39]
At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Mayweather won a bronze medal by reaching the semi-finals of the featherweight (57 kg)[40] division's 31-boxer tournament. In the opening round, Mayweather led 10-1 on points over Bakhtiyar Tileganov of Kazakhstan before he won by round 2 referee stoppage. In the second round, Mayweather outpointed Artur Gevorgyan of Armenia 16-3. In the quarterfinals, Mayweather survived a late rally by Lorenzo Aragon of Cuba to win 12-11. In his semifinal bout against the eventual silver medalist, Serafim Todorov of Bulgaria, Mayweather lost by a controversial decision that the U.S. team officially protested. Many who saw the bout, including the referee (who mistakenly raised Mayweather's hand when the decision was read), believed that Mayweather had won
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