What's the best argument against FMJ being the greatest?

After Castillo there weren't that many prime really interesting opponents to face for Floyd, and I think this gets mistaken for cherry picking.

Tsuy was the nearest really top fighter size wise, but he was winding down. I still would have liked a fight between them, but just imagine what people would say today of Floyd's "cherry picking" if he beat a post operation Kostya. Mosley and DLH were engaged at higher weight classes and probably not even interested in facing Floyd at the time. Mosley post the Winky defeats would also be slated as a cherry pick today, so...

Williams and Margarito would both be interesting opponents, but the window was pretty small and it's not like they were invincible either. Margarito lost to three guys that Floyd beat.

The main thing is that Floyd and Pac never faced off in 2010-2011 when the fight made the most sense.

 

What are you talking about, unified the division at 130, beat the number 1 at 135 and beat the number 1 and 2 at 147 numerous times aswell as beating 2 number 1s at 154

 

Four and a half years years of Floyd's prime were pretty wasted from a legacy standpoint, sadly enough. Gatti and Baldomir were probably the most worthwhile opponents he had between Castillo and DLH, but truth be told there weren't that many really good match-ups to be made.

Margarito would certainly be a better opponent than Judah, and Williams would a bigger test than Hatton (even though I can see the appeal with the Hatton fight). Judah was a weak pick for winning a first WW title, for sure. But wins over Margarito and Wliiams instead of Judah and Hatton wouldn't make any substantial difference to how I rank Floyd. It's not like they were dominant ATG fighters, it's more that at least Williams seems like he could be difficult from a stylistic standpoint.

 

A funny thing with many Floyd detractors is that they both critisize him for not facing Margarito and for facing a "washed up" version of Mosley, who had given Margarito a beat down in his previous fight.

 

He never beat the invincible, indestructible, impervious to pain, Rocky Marciano.

 

I don't see any argument for him being greater than Sugar Ray Robinson.

 

FMJ is and has never been seriously discussed to be considered the greatest. So this whole thread is stupid.

 

Another issue with Floyd is the amount of heavy astrix's he has. If you weigh them all up, you could say he isn't as great as Carlos Ortiz, let alone Sugar Ray Robinson!

I don't think that to be the case, but those two are probably close enough to be interchangeable with the right arguments. And what a technical masterpiece that would've been.

 

Humean,

I understand what you're saying, but America has got the power, and they have the monopoly on most of the divisions.

It's been that way for many years.

Don King, Bob Arum, Showtime, HBO etc.

The landscape is slowly starting to change. But they're still the powerhouse that house most of the world's best fighters, with European fighters like GG and Kovalev etc moving out there on a permanent basis.

Most top non U.S. based fighters end up travelling to America. There's the odd exceptions like Dariusz M and Sven Ottke from previous eras, but most go over to further their careers. All the Brits went over at some point.

Yes, King wanted to host fights in Zaire etc, but if they hadn't have been possible, he'd have just carried on promoting at home. If you look at Ali and his HW contemporaries, they were all either fellow U.S. fighters or they were U.S. based.

So whilst he did travel, he didn't have to.

It was the same with Floyd Mayweather. When would he ever have needed to have travelled?

For who?

He fought on HBO and Showtime, and almost all of his opponents were U.S. based. Even Manny fought/fights in the U.S. and lives there for periods throughout the year.

Non U.S. fighters have to make more sacrifices because their circumstances are extremely different.

America has been the home of boxing for many years.

The majority of the greatest fighters in history have either been American or have been based in America. Even some of the great South American fighters used to have homes in the U.S.

The main governing bodies were founded in America.

Who would he have fought outside of America?

Most of his opponents were U.S. based.

His network was U.S. based.

His promoters were American.

Again, throughout history, America have been the powerhouse in the sport.

America has been the home of big time boxing for many years.

Again, they house the biggest networks, the biggest promoters, and the majority of the world's best fighters, across all of the divisions.

At the end of the day, a top U.S. fighter doesn't have to leave the country. But a top European fighter has to at some point, in order to further his career.

 

Other than the Manny saga, the biggest criticism is his short retirements.

 

It was their styles though.

It would have been intriguing.

The build up would have been awesome too.

 

George,

Have you looked into Salvador Sanchez' career?

He's one of Roy's favourite ever fighters.

Roy used to watch him before he fought.

 

Not properly, I've seen a couple fights, Nelson, Lopez 2, Gomez ect. but overall, No I haven't.

 

I'm not a fan of critcising such decisions, since we don't know what goes on in their heads. I see no reason to believe Floyd retired to duck anyone.

 

Okay.

I just wondered.

There's so many fighters to research.