Floyd Mayweather takes swipe at Muhammad Ali while ranking greatest boxers

I don't really think of Boxers like that... because it is So Hard to get Accurate, in fact it is Impossible.

I mean, for me there are 2 ways to break them down, and even that won't be absolute

1) CHAMPIONS through Time = Lineal and Alphabets, Worthy or Not, same for Contenders and Fringe Contenders. this alone will equate to a couple 300 fighters over 150 years, Worthy Ones, once you rule out the pretenders or protected fighters

2) do the same thing for Countries, beginning with Boxing's Strongest Best Nations over the same 150 years, that will equate to hundreds again...

I mean there have been literally thousands of TOP Fighters, Hundreds of them Great, so it's not only hard to get accurate lists, but it is Impossible to be absolute.

would Floyd make 200, Maybe, but my gut instinct is Over 150 years you'd find loads of Great fighters in his weight range that would give him hell, nevermind all the greats in other divisions and weight ranges who could/should Rank above him over the History of Boxing.

look at BHop, he gets such a pass on achievements, but over the course of it, 150 years, his Size, Physical Status weight range, he'd be fighting more Billy Conn's than De la hoya's.

I can't and don't even attempt such an arduous task... I'd like to see someone take the time to consider the criteria and make some such lists, I feel they would be more accurate & honest and complimentary to the many great fighters, than all the mickey mouse achievement grading that goes on.

Yours, in Boxing.

 

Floyd has always been his own number-1 fan. He thinks like a fan and so he has sold himself on the points that today’s millennial-social-media-24/7-news-cycle-addicted fanbase can and do eat up, on the go. He’s not saying anything he didn’t, while he was active. However, I find it interesting that he is being challenged on his place in history and feels the need to continue this type of self-promotion, nearly three years after retiring.

In principle, I don’t really disagree with what he is saying in the newspaper interview. That said, it does point to his not quite understanding what “Greatness” is and the likelihood that he will be relying on the stats to make his case, forever more. Indeed, Mayweather’s reliance on the stats is made starkly apparent, in his marking down Ali for having only succeeded in one division, which speaks more to a reason for why “Greatness” is not quantifiable, by way of statistics alone. While good-looking stats are a solid basis, they can only take you so far.

I think it unlikely that Mayweather will ever be considered, by consensus, as Great as either Ali or Duran.

 

Agreed .. the rub on thew second fight was Ali won the early rounds but Norton won the last half of the fight pretty cleanly other than an last part of the last round Ali spurt ..

 

I'd say there have been maybe a hundred great fighters.It depends on your definition of the term.

 

That sounds about right.

 

Good post.

I don’t have a problem with Mayweather’s opposition. I think he beat a long list of men who ranged from “very good “ to “excellent.” A good number of whom are either in the hall of fame or most likely will be. In fact he’s one of the few aging greats who defeated a future successor as the next p4p best In the world ( Alvarez. ) he had great longevity. Also won a title In his 18th fight against a seasoned champion and hall of fame inductee. I suspect Floyd’s legacy will be more appreciated in decades to come. Right now people are still too turned off by his public image and personality.

 

Corrales?

He faced Canelo and Maidana x 2 before taking on the nr 2 fighter in the division and p4p in Pac. I definitely thinks that "dare to be great" for a guy in his mid/late 30's. Well, for anyone actually.

It's rather his run 2003-2006, when he was in the smack middle of his prime, that was disappointing.

 

That was great. I love the fact that Mike hesitated and thought before he spoke. Not many people do that.

 

Look, Floyd was an exceptional fighter .. he can also be a bit of an as- but he also seems to have a decent side as well ..

 

That's a good win but Corrales wasn't elite A level. I'd say B+. Either way people don't give Floyd enough credit because it was an excellent win.

I literally mentioned the canelo and pacquiao fights as 2 elite wins in my post.

Floyd made Maidana look good and got drug down to his level. Maidana had previously gotten schooled by devon Alexander, went life and death with victor Ortiz, and even lost to khan in a nail biter. Mayweather shouldn't have struggled with him in the 1st place but credit to him for digging seep and finding a way to win.

Agreed. I always try to defend Floyd when people are being irrational and hating for no reason but it's hard to excuse him going AWOL when you had so many prime elite fighters at 147 and 154 he could have fought, both right before his first retirement and right before his 2nd one.

 

I strongly suspect that too!

A few decades down the line, all the Floyd rubbishing that takes place today will be forgotten - and he will be seen (together with Pacquiao) as the outstanding boxer of this era.

 

A great performance. The Castillo wins weren't as impressive as performances, but also very good wins.

Maidana had really looked like a handful when he beat Broner in the previous fight, and the fact that Floyd took him on and then gave him an immediate rematch showed me that he wasn't afraid to take risks even at 37 years of age.

I don't ever feel that a fighter retiring needs to be excused, but the second retirement also made enormous amounts of sense. He was 39, why should he prove himself to a new generation up and comers?

But his active years between Castillo and DLH should have had more to offer.

 

Both Mayweather and Pacquiao are seen as the outstanding Boxers of the era already and register quite highly in the All-Time Ratings, now.

I am not sure much will change over the course of time, in so far as Mayweather being considered better than either Ali or Duran, for example.

 

Again, he shouldn't have struggled with maidana in the 1st place. Those fights are similar to Ali vs Leon Spinks 1 & 2, Ali's slower reflexes and shopworn body after a long career made Spinks look better than he was. Maidana wasn't hard to outbox as proven by Devon and even glass jawed Amir Khan.

The only reason Maidana was a top tier at 147 was because he beat Broner who won a belt via disputed split decision over feather fisted Malignaggi. By "man-who-beat-the-man" logic that's a fairly flimsy chain. The fact Broner has continuously gotten his ass kicked over and over since the Maidana loss means that Maidana's win hasn't aged well.

I give Mayweather credit for rematching an opponent who gave him an incredibly tough fight and challenging himself in his late 30's but that doesn't make Maidana an A class elite fighter for dragging Mayweather down to his level.

Well because he opened his big mouth and called himself TBE.

Wladmir Klitschko, George Foreman, Bernard Hopkins, and his rival Manny Pacquiao dared to be great taking on young lions when they were older than Floyd when he retired.

Again from a financial/health point of view no one can criticize Floyd. I'd probably do the same thing. But ending your career with an incredibly lackluster win over an older Pacquiao and a sparring match with Berto are incredibly disappointing ways to close out your career. It doesn't help that Pacquaio not only asked for a rematch multiple times while claiming he was injured (i don't believe him but it helps with hyping up a fight $$$) and has continued to rack uo amazing wins, but there were several young elite fighters he could have faced at 147 or 154. He didn't bother going for undisputed either for some reason (i think Kell Brook had the last belt, would have been moderately easy task).

 

Mayweather , in the words of Larry Holmes, aint fit to carry Ali's jockstrap. Floyd was a prima donna should have been a ballerina. Mayweather isnt in my top 50