Certainly did in my estimation. Manny wasn't even on the radar and most observers weren't taking Floyd's retirement seriously. The common thought at that time was that Floyd would come back after Oscar reestablished himself a little and have a mega bout rematch. When Floyd officially retired, Pacquiao was coming off of a quality (but razor thin) victory in his rematch with JMM. At 130. The same month Floyd retired, Pacquiao would go on to have his first fight at 135 against Diaz. In other words, when Floyd retired after the Hatton fight (the following June), Pacquiao was in no way, shape, or form viewed as a viable (or even realistic) opponent for Mayweather. That only started to change after Pac himself defeated DLH. And then the excitement for a Floyd-Pac showdown culminated following Pac's tremendous victory against Cotto. Feel free to disagree, but I firmly believe Floyd was hoping to raise his profile. The plan undoubtedly exceeded even his loftiest expectations, because the rise of Pac helped create a perfect storm scenario where both of them got rich beyond their wildest dreams.
@[url]Rumsfeld[/url] I suppose an apology is order...I've looked at box-wrec and an article on when Floyd announced his retirement and it seems you are right re. the chronology of events. I'm perplexed....I felt I had a pretty good grip on the timeline....but it seems I'm off by several years. I also apologize for my comments re your character - I mean it then but no longer mean them now. I still stand by cherry-picking and selecting opponents after they'd lost a step comments though.
Floyd is a defensive genuis but he is overrated. He had several closed and some were controversial results. If he fought outside USA he had multiple losses
Castillo 1 yes. And Maidana 1 could have been a loss in Argentina, but that would be a considered a robbery by many. So that's two at a stretch. Most top ATGs have more than that.
Laughable, and clueless. Mayweather let the division, which was on fire then, kill each other. Manny was on the radar in 2009 as he retired Oscar & sent Hatton into depression. I watched an interview with Floyd where he said made $25m for the Oscar fight, so why bother fighting again? Bear in mind that this payday eclipsed everything he made before. And he'd just beaten the poster boy of Boxing, how could you raise your profile higher? You couldn't. Fact is, is that he blew through the money and needed to come back.
Not directed at me, but still - really? The division was on fire? Paul Williams had just lost to the less than legendary Quintana when Floyd retired the first time (June 2008) and besides him you had Cotto, Margarito and Mosley. Mosley was ten years past his prime and still one of the top guys in the division. That's not the mark of a division "on fire". Pac was six months away from his first fight at WW. No one saw him as a coming threat in the division at the time. In early 2008 Floyd was looking at a division where his biggest threat had just lost to an unknown. Margarito, who had lost to the guy that had lost to this unknown fighter, was about to face Cotto, who had just squeezed by a an old Mosley, in a top meet. You really think this view was so terrifying that Floyd decided to retire?
It was easier for him to fight at Wrestlemania, than it was to be in the mix with Oscar, Williams, Cotto and Marg at WW-JMW.
It’s not about him being terrified. It’s about him being risk adverse. Oscar had given him a scare. That fight was too close for comfort. He wouldn’t rematch him. Paul Williams and Marg would have given him stylistic issues. Before he lost to Marg, Cotto was making waves and was highly respected. A fresher Mosley was a threat. It’s okay saying “this guy lost to that guy, and that guy beat that guy” but look at the trouble that a guy like Maidana gave him after been beaten by a number of lesser fighters. The WW division was very interesting when Floyd retired. Everyone fought and beat each other. Earning millions of dollars for fighting the ‘Big Show’ at Wrestlemania, was much easier than being in the mix with all of those guys.
Yeah, Floyd was so risk averse that he gave immediate rematches to the two guys that troubled him the most. The epic proportions that Margarito and Williams have grown to just because Floyd never faced them is one of the most embarrassing things for this forum. Margarito was taken apart and dominated by two guys that Floyd easily beat, but he was so intimidating that a younger Floyd fled into retirement because of him? And then he for some reason came back to face the guy who manhandled Margarito and Cotto? Can't everyone just please drop this fantasy.
Floyd was risk averse. How many examples do you want? He turned down millions of dollars to rematch Oscar. Huge money. I never said that he retired because he was terrified. Only that it was easier to join the WWE circus and to sit on the sidelines whilst everybody fought each other. Williams and Marg would have been difficult stylistic match ups for him. If he’d not have fought Maidana, you’d now be laughing at anybody who suggested that he could have given Floyd a tough fight. It doesn’t matter if Floyd beat the guys who they lost to. I’m sure that you’ve been watching boxing long enough to realise that the truest thing ever spoken about the sport, is the old adage that ‘styles make fights’ He faced the guy who manhandled Marg and Cotto? Manny? A faded and injured version from 2015? That was not the same version who beat Marg and Cotto. Beating Manny in 2015 has nothing whatsoever to do with fighting Marg 7 years earlier. Nothing.
