No, that's about how it was. Nelson was badly outclassed, but game throughout. Not exactly the easiest spirit to break, Azumah. Pea's jab was razor sharp. I'm sure it's already been mentioned as a detraction, but I don't consider his being at 135 the first time out all that big of a deal. They were the same size. Nelson was amongst the top 5-6 P4P guys in the game at the time.
What about The Ring cover where it debates who the no.1 P4P is. Has Oscar and Roy, and under Pea's name says 'Never Really Lost'. He was well regarded, no doubt.
Oh, he was definitely well regarded, Flea. Anybody who sees that clip would surely be amused by the ultimate cynic Larry Merchant gushing respect for him and citing his quality of opposition at the time. He was not only on The Ring several times, but Sports Illustrated a couple times as well -- Can tell you firsthand that it is about as far from a boxing-related publication as it gets, perhaps maybe the 6th through 8th most covered sport. This content is protected This content is protected For comparison, these guys have been featured the following amount of times: Roy Jones, Jr: 0 times Oscar De La Hoya: 1 time (w/ Floyd Mayweather) Manny Pacquiao: 0 times Floyd Mayweather: 1 time (w/ Oscar De La Hoya) Bernard Hopkins: 0 times This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected ^ After DLH fight.
It's in the custom title. For some reason, I hadn't been able to log-in the last week or so. BIG, AZ and Nas (instrumental) to a Sweet Pea video. (Ice Veins does great stuff) [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHEAx-Y5lig&feature=youtube_gdata_player"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHEAx-Y5lig&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/ame]
Yeah, but Whitaker lost a 'best resume' poll to Pacquiao by well over 100 votes in the General. Was also firmly behind Lennox Lewis. http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/poll.php?do=showresults&pollid=33805 :deal :verysad
It's weird.......back then I used to just despise Whitaker. Hated showboats. I also never liked it when things appeared too easy for someone. I resented that it appeared as if they didn't have to really work for what they were getting. That was of course not true, these guys work like pigs, but you know what I mean...... Anyway, I would tune in not so much because I expected him to get beaten on a given night (he was that dominant) but to see if someone might steal a couple rounds from him and thereby make him look bad. That was about all I could hope for. Given the consistently high level of opposition he faced and how for so many years he ran the tables on them even at THAT level, I'd have to say he's the best I've seen in the years I've followed the sport.
I wouldn't say he was popular. He had trouble filling arenas outside of the Scope, even when he was regarded as the best p4p. Those who understood the sport appreciated his skills, but he wasn't a pimple on Tyson's ass and was largely overshadowed even by guys his own size like Julio Cesar Chavez.
Oh, I'm sure that when alone and going on Floyd's own merit and not comparatively, you have appreciation for his abilities. Aside from Flea Man (obviously), I'm one of the few on here who's openly "out" as a Mayweather fan - though I like him less than a good handful (including Pea). He stopped caring about big challenges when he made it to $25-40 milllion per fight pay days and it's a little difficult to fault him for not wanting to give that up. Really did look and was the part at his lower weights, though. You can match him there with anybody historically because he likely wouldn't of had an issue fighting anybody at that point of his career.
Pea is the best fighter below welterweight. I reckon he's the second best in history behind only Robinson.