All opinions welcome - Rating Floyd Mayweather as a skilled ATG

Better than defining skill is giving examples of it in action, and here I refer to SRR and SRL as the best examples. Of course, Pep and Whitaker are also beautiful to watch, but they are not as good at switching from boxer to destroyer as Leonard and Robinson IMO. For me they stand out.

Jones and Ali are in their own way just as magnificent, but different. They cut out styles of their own and excelled at it. Of course, their athletic ability was vital for excelling at those particular styles, but it was more than that. The developed skills that were perfectly in tune with their special style. Of course, Ali was much more able to adapt when his physical abilities diminished.

But when talking about skill in a more orthodox way I would point to Robinson and Leonard. They were very close to complete.

 

Mayweather was without question one of the most skilled fighters ever but perhaps Chuc should remove Floyd & Roy then replace with Pep & Duran.... that would likely be the same 6 as me.

Its certainly not a bad 6 chuc has but Pep was a better boxer than every guy on his list, this IS boxing afterall & no-one did it like Pep.

 

Floyd is so damn overrated. Not just from a career and accomplishments point of view, but in terms of ability as well. The only weight class he showed truly extraordinary ability in was 130.

 

I happen to think people see Mayweather as underrated. Not many people on the classic rate him highly H2H. I can't see how he's overrated, although possibly on the general.

IMO I find him underrated, on here anyway.

 

You have to be careful what criteria you are using when rating Floyd Mayweather Jr. In terms of legacy and resume, I don't think he can be seen as all that special of a fighter. At 130lb, he showed unbelievable ability, and I think his destruction over the then unbeaten Diego Corrales is one of the greatest performances you are ever likely to see. However, the way he handled his career at 140lb and 147lb, leaves a bad taste in not only my mouth, but a lot of other Boxing fans also. This is evident once you see how many critics the man has acquired over the years.

In terms of skill, I think he can be comparable with the majority of top tier ATG's over the last 100 years +. When he went on the offensive, he was rapid, and showed that he could not only throw an excess amount of punches in combination, but also had some power. The first man to stop Diego Corrales and Ricky Hatton, both very good fighters in their respective weight class. Most known for his defense, he would roll with punches, parry, and often use his shoulders to avoid any flurries, even when backed up on the ropes. This can be seen on any highlight of his uploaded on youtube. He was a great talent.

That said, I would really consider listing him among the top 5 or 6 fighters in the world as a bit of an insult. Yes, he had the ability to do a lot more than he did in Boxing, but the only way to truly measure a fighter's worth is to evaluate how they did against other great fighters. Let's hope Floyd comes back and gives us the marquee fights we all want to see at 147lb.

 

He is an excellent fighter but I am not yet ready to put him in the class of a Leonard or Duran. His last fight with Delahoya was close and he should have handled Oscar better than Manny did. Listen Floyd has found a way to win but beating Hatton is not like beating Hearns or Duran. As far as rating him next to the ATG's at this point, he certainly has the talent, Speed, tecnique, good power and seems to be able to take a punch when hit......but I still have not seen him fight the level of a Duran or Leanard...Let him fight Shane Mosley before Shane gets too old...its a big fight $$$$wise and Shane is not a Hearns.....I rate Leonard in my top 10 as a welter under SRR but Floyd is not top 10 yet....He has to have his Superfight and win like a superstar

 

The general argument is that he has never fought a Leonard or Hearns, but who in his era from 130-154 IS that calibre. There aren't any and history will show that Floyd was the victim of fighting in the wrong era where there was no one to truly test his abilities.

 

Floyd is overrated. He has never proved himself against ANY top fighter.

 

I think Mayweather is a top 15 atg at his weight class. Some modern historians will not give Mayweather his due as an ATG. Their argument is he did not fight enough competition. Hatton, De La Hoya, Judah, Mitchell, Gatti, Corales, and Mandfredy were all quality fighters....at least two of these names will likely be in the hall of fame some day.

With Mayweather the skills are there for sure, and his chin was never an issue at light weight or welter weight. Mayweather stands undefeated in the boxing ring, and was the best pound for pound fighter for a few years.

Some say Mayweather should have lost a close decision to Castillo. Maybe. If Floyd had a weakness, he could be backed up and sometimes stuck to the ropes instead of moving or countering. Yes Mayweather acted like a jerk outside the ring, but we must rate him in it. He was great.

 

Against Corrales he showed immaculate side-to-side movement, and a wide variety of punches, thrown in combination. Against Jesus Chavez, he showed some slick counter-punching off the ropes. Put on a jabbing exhibition against Sosa and Castillo in their second fight. Exhibited the abilty to exert grinding pressure against Judah, so it's not like he couldn't do that if required

In terms of pure skill-set, there really aren't that many fighters who were better than he was...Be hard pressed to name any more than 10-15, to be honest. In terms of accomplishments, he rates Top 50.

 

Underrated by a section of boxing fans, grossly overrated by another.

As with a lot of things I see him somewhere in the middle....One of, if not the best H2H fighter I think there has been at 130, with a solid resume there.
Over 135 I didnt see the same overall fighter but he still maintained a brillant defensive ability. Plus his resume went down hill after that.

I think he got scared after the Castillo fights...He probably found he wasnt as good as he thought he was and he fragile hands maybe couldnt hold up for his whole career. So he went for the cash after that, missing quite a few good fighters in the process.

Good still at 147-154 but not the same kind of good. People still think he is one of the great welters with few rivals, which is poop if you ask me, a lot of fighters beat him there.

For me a fighter whose record and resume doesnt synch up with his ability..sorta like Calzaghe.
Quite a few fighters greater then he is, even though he probably could beat several ranked in front of him in a H2H matchup.