Just wandering how many people think that Mayweather will become a better fighter if he loses his unbeaten record. If it does happen i think only 2 things will happen - 1 he will straight up retire or 2 he will come back much improved. Floyd gets a lot of grief from many people for fighting smaller boxers and for doing a lot of running in the ring. I reckon a lot of the cherrypicking is to do with protecting the 0 which is a massive selling point in todays boxing world, if he loses at some point floyd will have to go after the big boys to prove hes the best and will probably be a bit more explosive in the ring too.
I don't think Floyd could handle ever losing his professional record, which will be why he has done everything possible to make sure it never happens. I hope he faces the best Welterweights in the world, so the fans can have great fights, and we can officially crown him as the greatest fighter of his era. No way does he get priority over guys like Manny Pacquiao and Bernard Hopkins, two fighters with stacked resumes.
Floyd suffered defeat in the olympics on the big stage, I think that equips him (much like Roy) to handle the 0 without it destroying his confidence. I think Floyd is also the type of guy that on a loss, would back himself to come back and beat the guy that beat him. His closest fight against Castillo where people were saying he lost, he came back and wiped the floor with the guy in their next fight. Basically, Floyd is now at a position where he is out of "easy" fights that will make money in the league he wants, Marquez being Mexican and P4P #2 was always going to make money... But realistically, there are four fights in boxing now for Floyd. 1. Pac 2. Cotto 3. Mosley 4. Williams Some may argue Margarito would earn, I don't see it. Maybe down the line Tim Bradley is an earning fight. I don't see Floyd bothering with Williams either, Williams isn't really a guy who should fight at Welterweight - why risk your career against those odds. I honestly think his pathway will lead him through the winner of Cotto/Pacquaio (I still have a sense that Cotto will win) and then he'll likely be looking in the direction of Mosley as I don't see any other fight existing for him. Maybe if there was a weak middleweight champion, he may look at doing that (the same way RJJ went to HW against a weak champ)
Was Marquez really that bad of a fight though? Or are you loathe to give credit to Floyd for dealing with the guy so effectively?
I want Floyd to fight 3 more fights to cement his legacy of how great a fighter he really is. But he needs to fight Mosley, Cotto & Pac. If he figths these 3 & wins I don't think anyone will deny his greatness. Williams has moved on to 160 so I think its unrealistic to think Floyd needs to fight him. But the other 3 are the top 147lbers in the world, along side him of course.
I say Mosley had a shot, back in his prime at 135 when he was comparable in handspeed, had crushing power and a style that very few could figure out. In this current form? with Cotto outboxing him in that fashion? I just don't see it. Anyone who believes their key to beating Floyd is in handspeed, just doesn't wash for me. The only style I've seen that I give an absolute chance of ****ing Floyd over is Calzaghe's. Punches in bunches from weird angles, a chin that can take any of the counter shots, stamina to do it throughout the fight and an ability to land on defensive wizards. Williams is the closest to that. Cotto? I see him getting severely outboxed. Pacquaio? He'll rate his handspeed, but he's not on Floyd's level, his defense isn't there and due to that, it won't be a "Who hits who out first" like most of Pac's big fights
it was a good tune up victory and floyd looked spectacular but all the advantages were in Mayweathers hands and it didnt really prove anything - im not trying to discredit floyd hes a great fighter i just think if he was beaten by someone he would take more risks and probably be a better fighter.
It proved that a guy who gave Pacquaio absolute fits, a guy who was a very skilled boxer wasn't even competitive with Floyd. Had this fight been a 116-114 victory to Floyd, I'd agree, it proved nothing. It was a 120-107 victory to Floyd, against a guy who is a very skilled boxer and someone who despite the size differences, would not be dominated like that by any other boxer in the game.
I agree on the Cotto fight, I still think the Mosley fight would be the mst competitive - hes still very fast and has the power to trouble floyd but floyds defence is excellent and i would expect him to in a ud. Pacquaio you gotta again look at the size and weight issues - i give him a chance as he is very fast and quite powerful but id still have floyd as favorite (will be able to comment better on this one after he fights Cotto) but if pacman lands a left on floyd like the one that put hatton to sleep then floyds going out too