Marciano stepped up to the elite level in his 35th fight when he faced and beat Layne. At the same point in his career, May had beaten (grab a drink and make yourself comfortable)... Zab Judah, Mitchell, Gatti, Castillo x2, Jesus Chavez, Corrales, Manfredy, Genaro Hernandez... One of these things is not like the other.
As someone who prefers Marciano but respects Mayweather's skill and accomplishments, this is an answer that I have a great deal of appreciation for.
To me it is Floyd by a comfortable margin. I am not a Floyd guy, but man he is critiqued by a standard no other boxer has to face.
The historic Heavyweights tend to get overrated and evoke nostalgia, which I think is a big factor in the voting being relatively close here. Well, that and the fact that there are (understandable to a degree) misgivings over a couple of significant fights missing from Mayweather's record. But forgetting what he didn't do, and concentrating on what each man respectively did - his record boasts much more depth, quality and consistency at the highest level than Marciano's. In pound for pound terms, the only Heavyweight I'd have ahead of Mayweather would be Ali. Louis is comparable to Mayweather, but still behind in my opinion. The rest of the Heavyweights? Nowhere near him.
Man tough one...Marciano p4p has the better scalps. Mayweather handled his competition (tough competition despite the naysayers) better then any fighter I’ve ever seen and had more quality fighters overall. But Marciano did it at HW...which deserves a nod. Idk this is a good question. I’d say they are equally impressive and both have their knocks. I rate Mayweather better on the p4p scale simply for making great fighters look amateurish every night.
Marciano beat three men id put top ten p4p. One was ancient the other two were highly competitive. Can’t really say the same for Mayweather. PAC was his best win and I’d only call him competitive at the moment. But Mayweather def has more quality wins overall.
Mayweather might have beaten the most top ten pfp fighters since it started being recorded. I think he has since The Ring started covering pfp.
Very much agree with this. Not a fan either, but don't know of any other fighter that gets so so much flak for facing guys that actually were p4p ranked at the time. And if the guys he beat were older or smaller Floyd beating them will be disregarded no matter where they were ranked at the time or how dominantly he beat them; if they were bigger and younger nothing will be said about it.
