Where do you rank Floyd Mayweather as far as legacy..?

[Eubank]

Insignificant.

[Flea Man]

Originally Posted by kerrminator

Cant agree there mate Its hardly fact. What is a fact however is that bob arum stood in the way of some fights. Arum has all but said he wont give floyd a fight with any of his guys. (in fact if memory serves im pretty sure he did say it at one point) Cotto and marg weould be like mosely anyway.....once Floyd beat them they would suddenly be too old or too shot. When he beats Pac (and he will ) there will be several excuses come out of the woodwork as to why it happened imo

Margo wasn't old or shot four/five years ago when Papa Bob was offering Floyd between 5-8 mill to fight him

[Beeston Brawler]

Yeah but Floyd doesn't have to fight anyone. He'd beat them all anyway......

Didn't you realise???

[Flea Man]

True, which is why we should treat him the same as those who took the risks and rank him amongst the top 20 fighters that have ever lived, even when his skillset doesn't look as good as others with the opposition he has faced

[Big Dunk]

Originally Posted by Flea Man

Margo wasn't old or shot four/five years ago when Papa Bob was offering Floyd between 5-8 mill to fight him

he got the same amount to fight Baldomir who was lineal champion at the time.

[Beeston Brawler]

Originally Posted by Flea Man

True, which is why we should treat him the same as those who took the risks and rank him amongst the top 20 fighters that have ever lived, even when his skillset doesn't look as good as others with the opposition he has faced

Like TFFP said, Floyd just didn't have the desire in the 2nd half of his career to be a ''great'' fighter.

He was content just to cherry pick belts and make money. Which I suppose is fine, but the two don't often go hand in hand, and certainly didn't in his case.

There comes a point when the amount of money you've made ought to become irrelevant, unless of course you employ a million and one flunkies and have a gambling addiction.

I think it was David who said that up until Floyd fought Castillo he seemed set to go all the way and be right up there..... obviously that fight went a little too close to the wind and he's been more defensive, both in his style inside the ring and selection of opponents.

That's pretty much the crux of the matter - he's not fought Williams, Margarito, Cotto, Pacquiao.... Clottey even, Tszyu, a prime Mosley.... etc. Being hypothetical.....

Replace Corley/Bruseles with the then Tszyu
Replace Gatti with the then Zab
Replace Mitchell with Hatton
Replace Zab with Mosley
Replace Baldomir with DLH
Replace DLH with Margarito
Replace Hatton with Cotto
Fight Williams
Fight Pacquiao

Now that is a resume and a half - with some of the same fighters but all closer to their respective primes.... and also the men he didn't fight during his time at 147.

That would push him toward the likes of Hopkins and RJJ, instead of being around the likes of Mosley and the three Mexicans.

[Nipple]

If Floyd had a set of balls on him then he would possibly be top 15 ATG imho.

That list someone put up above? If Floyd would of gone down that way then he would of been sky rocketed in the ATG rankings.

[Beeston Brawler]

I'm not sure about top 15 but adding those names to his slate would greatly enhance his standing.

Even if you take a couple of those out and replace them with (say) Forrest or Winky.... looking further outside the box Spinks - there's plenty of names win or lose that he could have faced.

Hell, is it so unrealistic to give Floyd a shot at beating a 160lb Jermain Taylor?

[GazOC]

Yes.

[Flea Man]

Originally Posted by Beeston Brawler

Like TFFP said, Floyd just didn't have the desire in the 2nd half of his career to be a ''great'' fighter.

He was content just to cherry pick belts and make money. Which I suppose is fine, but the two don't often go hand in hand, and certainly didn't in his case.

There comes a point when the amount of money you've made ought to become irrelevant, unless of course you employ a million and one flunkies and have a gambling addiction.

I think it was David who said that up until Floyd fought Castillo he seemed set to go all the way and be right up there..... obviously that fight went a little too close to the wind and he's been more defensive, both in his style inside the ring and selection of opponents.

That's pretty much the crux of the matter - he's not fought Williams, Margarito, Cotto, Pacquiao.... Clottey even, Tszyu, a prime Mosley.... etc. Being hypothetical.....

Replace Corley/Bruseles with the then Tszyu
Replace Gatti with the then Zab
Replace Mitchell with Hatton
Replace Zab with Mosley
Replace Baldomir with DLH
Replace DLH with Margarito
Replace Hatton with Cotto
Fight Williams
Fight Pacquiao

Now that is a resume and a half - with some of the same fighters but all closer to their respective primes.... and also the men he didn't fight during his time at 147.

That would push him toward the likes of Hopkins and RJJ, instead of being around the likes of Mosley and the three Mexicans.

Exactly that, you forgot James Toney as well

[Flea Man]

I think Spinks Vs Floyd at some point, actually would've been a very interesting clash of styles, despite how boring/negative both of them can be.

Forrest would've beaten Floyd hands down, but I see no point in their careers when they could've feasibly fought each other, unless it was when Mora fought Forrest the first time. Floyd might well have beaten him that night.

[Beeston Brawler]

Dunno.... if he'd stayed at 154 after beating DLH?

But then the WBC would have intervened and made DLH the mandatory challenger to get their hands on the $$$$.

I think Mayweather vs Spinks would be a farcical 0-0 draw, the judges would be asleep midway through the first round and that would be that. Some of Mayweather's fights have been entertaining (mainly because of the opponent it has to be said) but Spinks could put a glass eye to sleep.

[Flea Man]

I would also say that Floyd matches up well with Jermain, for the simple fact he doesn't possess the attributes necessary to take Jermain out of the zone.

I wouldn't be surprised if, in a hypothetical Floyd comes in at 154 for a 160lb title, like many did 'back in the day' and fights the Taylor that fought B-Hop the first time, I'd put the house on Taylor getting Floyd out of there between 10-12. Too big, let's not forget that Floyd declined a sparring session with James Degale on the basis of him being too big, he would never step into the ring with someone who has many advantages over him, for example, P-Dub you would think, has an awful style for Floyd. You'd love to see Floyd demonstrate a flawless gameplan and outbox him, just as much as you'd like to see Williams catch up with him at some point and for Floyd to come through it with flying colours.

But he'd rather do neither. Just in case, it seems would be the reason. And yet when he took on someone he thought would be a fairly easy touch in Mosley, and Mosley had one good round, Floyd fought fire with fire. He showed a desire to come back from adversity. The fact is he might look better than we've ever seen him when Pac has him cornered and is throwing nigh on a hundred punches a round. I tend to think if Floyd could've outmanouvered a peak Margo and lost some of the middle rounds, only to come back and win, that would've shown more of him than his win over De La Hoya, where he looked pretty lethargic against a guy who was as lethargic as they come as the fight went on.

Of course, Mosley bolted his load. But at the same time, Floyd usually seems content to pepper opponents that are done, with Mosley he showed desire that was very impressive, even if he might not have been able to impose it on someone more 'with it' than Mosley was that night.

Pac fighting Mosley is completely retarted though. It would be a fail of epic proportions if Mosley landed something humongous a la Martinez Vs Williams (very unlikely given how Shane has looked as of late) and given he is coming off a wide loss and a draw to an average stinker of a fighter in Mora, it makes no sense for Pac to be fighting him.

I would still say that Pac has taken on a far wider array of difficult to challenges stylistically and physically in comparison to what Floyd has.

And as I say, he doesn't have too many flashes of genius against more than competant opposition like Roy and B-Hop have to make up for an average resume. He has never really been the underdog. Most say he wouldn't be for Pac, I can say myself I would see Pac as the Heavy faovourite; if Floyd were to win, it would be a win of epic proportions. It would not however, automatically validate everything he has done which I do not see as favourable characteristics for a great, he might not even supercede Pac in terms of greatness (refuse to rule it out manner of victory is important) but it would be a genuine 'Wow' moment like Roy and B-Hop have had.

[Beeston Brawler]

Yeah, I don't see the wisdom in Pacquiao facing Mosley.

Even though Mosley is obviously past it, Manny's style is more to Shane's liking (than Floyd's) and is hittable with right hands..... it's not beyond the realms of possibility that Shane lands a biggie and seriously wobbles Pacquiao - just a question of whether he could finish him off.

To me, unless Manny stops him there's little to be gained from this one - Shane's been thrashed on points three times before.....

[Flea Man]

Yeah, Pac has got to blitz him early IMO, and I think he will, Mosleys punch resistance looked seriously lacking against Floyd IMO.