Floyd Mayweather:I'm a better boxer than Muhammad Ali

How about you give me some arguments as to why I'm wrong.

 

Because Ali was a heavyweight. His whole career.
He can't pick opponents from a new set of rankings that were set at every 5, 7 or 10 pounds or whatever.

 

"World class fighters tend to be harder to beat the bigger they get" ...
Yeah, and heavyweight's a division where it's routine for world class fighters to attempt to beat far bigger world class fighters.

Down at 135 and 140, okay, why don't we just put a division at 136 and one at 138 as well, and write up another couple of top 10 lists ?
We've just created 10 more "top 5" fighters.

 

I can't find that thread anymore, but it seems very plausible if we look at the guys we know were at least around the top 5 at the time:

Miteff (yeah, surprising, but I actually think he was top 5 at the time), Moore, Jones, Liston x 2, Patterson x 2, Mildenberger, Terrell, Folley, Quarry x 2, Bonavena, Frazier x 2, MacFoster (also a bit surprising, but I think he was), Bugner, Norton x 2, Foreman, Lyle, Young, Shavers, Spinks

That's 24. There are a couple I'm unsure of, though, so just above 20 seems right.

 

Ali was a World Champion. Floyd was a Vegas Champion

 

Floyd is a better boxer then Ali

 

Both are top notch boxers

 

You favor 10 or 20 boxers over Prime Ali? Can't wait to read this list.

 

Yes I do, in terms of boxing ability.
Robinson, Mayweather, Pacquiao, Leonard, Benitez, Hagler, Duran, Whitaker, Roy Jones Junior, Tyson, Armstrong, Hopkins, Toney, Holmes, Lewis, Hearns, Pep, Lomachenko, Jofre, Pryor.

 

Well Mayweather is possibly better, but he certainly wasn’t greater.

 

Ali v Mayweather

who wins ?

 

This is a great post that sums everything up.

Floyd was truly a great fighter. But his earnings do not impress the average fan. Nobody cares how much money he made. You’re not going to get 2 guys in a bar debating on who made what amount. But you’re always going to get 2 guys in a bar debating/arguing about who they think would have won between him and Manny when they were both in their prime.

Floyd has all the money that anybody could ever wish to have and he has his health intact. And that’s cool. It’s great. But travelling the road that he travelled comes with a price. And like you have already noted, that price is that he’ll never be respected as much as Ali is. And using traditional criteria, he’ll never be classed as the GOAT. That’s how simple it is.

Floyd had an amazing career and he went out on his own terms. And that has to be greatly respected. But he has to respect the fact that a guy like Ali will always be more revered due to him having had a different mindset. Floyd can’t have it both ways. He can’t do what he did but then have issues with guys like Ali being rated higher.

Floyd spoke of the Foreman fight. And sure, Ali letting Foreman pound away on him was dumb. It was foolish and extremely dangerous. It was crazy. But he took that fight knowing full well that he couldn’t fight on his toes like he could in the 60’s. He took the fight knowing that the only way he could win, was by doing a psyche job on George to try and make him gas out before capitalising later on in the fight. And it was one of the most stupidest/bravest things that’s ever been seen in a ring. And it’s the type of fight that Floyd wouldn’t have dreamt of taking had he have been in a similar position.

Floyd and Ali were polar opposites.

One man played it as safe as possible, whereas the other man put his life on the line in order to gain victory.

One man called a prime version of George Foreman a sissy and told him that he hit like a girl, whereas the other man moaned about Marcos Maidana’s gloves.

One man was exiled due to refusing the draft, whereas the other man exiled himself to join the WWE.

Again, Floyd was great. A genius in the ring. But Floyd would never have fought guys the equivalent of George Foreman or Larry Holmes when Ali fought them.

In terms of technical skill, you can rate Floyd higher. But then you have to allow for the fact that Ali had a 200 plus pound frame that he carried around the ring.

So to summarise:

Floyd might have been better. But he’ll just never be classed as being greater.