What if Floyd Mayweather came up in the 80s?

lol Mayweather coasted against Oscar in order to get a rematch. That is the only fight where the victor immediately asked for a rematch in the in ring post fight interview.

 

I think he would have a record similar to the fighting men of the 80's. It is an extremely emotional response to call Floyd a coward. He's more aptly described as a shrewd business man, not dissimilar to Sugar Ray, all things considered. Any perceived maneuverings was simply a result of commanding enough clout to do so.

He was a product of his time: coming into prominence having replaced Oscar as the foremost attraction in boxing.

For added background, he took the number one pound-for-pound title from Bernard Hopkins (after a Hopkins loss, not a Mayweather win, as I recall), and the heavyweight champion in his own time was Wladimir Klitschko.

Now, depending on one's own opinion of Mayweather, one could still argue he would be the best out of the pack in the late 80's, but he absolutely would not be the biggest draw.

In this environment, his antics won't play any more egregiously than Leonard's retirements did earlier in that decade. And this assumes he has the option of exercising any sort of clout at all, even as the consensus best in the business; Whitaker and Hopkins did not carry the same negotiating power, for example.

 

Run Floyd run!

 

I think he would have done extremely well. Would he have duplicated the record that he did in real time ? I have no idea.