I've noticed many people on this board like to detract from Mayweather's legacy by saying he ducked some of the sturdiest challenges out there when he was in his prime. I Have no strong opinion of this personally. I think Mayweather is a great fighter who probably could have done a little more from a resume perspective. So my question is this. If you were in Al Haymon's position, and money wasn't the biggest priority. What fights would you have had mayweather fight in order to secure him a top 5 ATG status? Or was this even possible? Was there significant enough talent in or around weight classes Floyd fought in to allow him to reach Ali, Robinson, Leonard, Armstrong etc territory? For me if he had fought the following guys when these fights were in demand there could be not the slIghtest doubt about his greatness 1)Kostya 2)Cotto 3)Pacquiao
He'd need to beat Alvarez, Martinez and the Pacquiao-Marquez V winner to even stand a chance. I don't think it's possible really, though. EDIT: Just read it properly, would I have, I see. Well, I think really all he could have done to improve his resume that much was fight Cotto in '08 and Pacquiao a couple of years ago and Martinez now. Primer version of DLH and Mosley were too late for him. Tszyu might have added a bit beating him before Hatton got to him. The likes of Casamayor and Freitis at 130/135 a little bit too, but really there's not an awful amount of opportunity to establish himself as a top 5 great.
how about a ONE GREAT LOSS for mayweather? i mean that's something he has not experienced yet.. anyway, he does not need to beat someone in order to be considered as one of the greatest.. just wait for him to retire, and 5 years after that, he will be remembered.
Paul William and Margarito. Who would not have liked to watch the last 4 rounds of the Margarito. Jr would win on points but Jr would have retired for 5 years because of health problems!
I think people mainly complained about him failing to fight: - 2009-2010 version of Pac. - Cotto (before he was beaten by Margarito). - Paul Williams. - Margarito (around the time Mayweather fought Baldomir). In hindsight, it's actually a good thing that Mayweather didn't fight Margarito. The whole loaded gloves thing was terrible, and Margarito should have been banned from the sport for life. I haven't seen much of Williams, so I can't comment there. I think a younger, fresher Cotto would have had interesting moments against Mayweather, but I don't think he would beat him. Mayweather should have fought him. In terms of Pac, I would regard that as the most important fight of Mayweather's career. Pac, at the time, was thought of as a wrecking ball -- after demolishing Hoya, Hatton and Cotto, the timing was perfect for a genuine super fight. If Mayweather had fought and beaten him at that point, it would have been his best possible answer to all of his critics and it would have cemented his legacy. I can't overstate how important I think that fight was -- it was his Duran or Frazier. I don't mean that in terms of how the fight would have gone, because I would have expected him to probably outbox Pac without too much trouble, but in terms of the status it is comparable. Of course, it never happened, and I think that's going to be a dark mark on Mayweather's career in history. Pac will also get some blame, but because he has the arguably better resume, he won't get as much criticism as Mayweather.
I haven't seen too much bitching about Williams. It's hard to single out anyone for not fighting Williams since most of the names did not fight him. There was only desperate margarito.
Mayweathers resume is vastly underated imo. People pick holes it, people coming of losses, cherry picking, weight disadvantage, past prime bla bla bla. He fought some top opposition and he looked amazing doing it.
2004 - Kotsya Tszyu - IBF Light-Welterweight title Arturo Gatti - IBF / WBC Light-Welterweight title Ricky Hatton - IBF / WBC / WBA Light-Welterweight title 2005 - Miguel Cotto - IBF / WBC / WBA / WBO Light-Welterweight title Zab Judah - WBC / WBA / IBF Welterweight title 2006 Antonio Margarito - WBC / WBA / IBF / WBO Welterweight title Paul Williams - WBC / WBA / IBF / WBO Welterweight title 2007 Oscar De La Hoya - WBC Light Middleweight title Shane Mosley - WBC Light Middleweight title 2008 Vacation time baby! 2009 Andre Berto - WBC Welterweight title 2010 Manny Pacquiao - WBC / WBO Welterweight title Juan Manuel Marquez - WBC / WBO Welterweight title 2011 Timothy Bradley - WBC / WBO Welterweight title Amir Khan - WBC / WBO Welterweight title