Antonio Tarver says Floyd Mayweather Jr never looked unbeatable

For a decade Roy was untouchable
Sure all these idiots laugh at him now, but he was absolutely insane at his peak.

 

Floyd wasn’t getting big fights like that earlier in his career. When he finally did, it broke PPV records. Floyd from then on got big fights because he was the draw. He was the biggest draw in the sport and when you are that, everyone wants to fight you. Everyone is now willing to take the risk.

 

The problem with this was that Floyd became the banker; he could have his own judges, athletic commission, weight stipulations and contract nuances that tilted all the odds in his favour. I think Tarver is right about Floyd never looking unbeatable, he had relatively close fights with an ageing Oscar, lost to Castillo, had a close fight with Maidana, and a pedestrian UD win over a Pacquiao who he waited to get knocked out before he even entertained the fight.

Mayweather is one of the best defensive fighters of all time, no doubt. But he's arguably the best boxer of all time when it comes to brand visibility and selling an image of himself that was perfectly managed down to the very last detail.

 

That comes with being the A side. Those are the perks that come with it. Every A side fighter uses their A side advantages. You think Crawford wants to be fighting at 168 as opposed to a catch weight? You think Floyd wanted to wear those huge gloves in his fight with Oscar? You think Duran wanted to have the Leonard rematch that quickly? That’s just part of the sport. We can disagree it but that’s how it is.

With Floyd never looking unbeatable, wouldn’t that also imply there were fighters out there that could beat him? If so, who were they? I even remember Manny at his peak when he was wrecking through divisions still was not the favorite to beat Floyd. It wasn’t even truly perceived as a 50-50 fight. So while Floyd did have some close fights and may not have looked dominant in certain fights, he still wasn’t the underdog. There still wasn’t opposition that people felt were either 50-50 fights or he was the underdog in. The only fights that could have potentially been viewed that way is if Floyd went past 154. But within the weight classes he fought in, Floyd was favored over everybody. In that sense, you could argue he was seen as unbeatable.

 

Mayweather was boring to watch but he's on another level to Jones.

Jones lost about 12 ****ing times and was knocked out about 10 times. His chin was a massive joke, he became a massive laughing stock.

You can't compare him to Floyd

 

The issue is "in his prime" and in his prime RJJ went fight after fight not losing a round. Yeah later on his speed diminished and his chin betrayed him but up until then he was in fact difficult to beat.

Floyd had similar runs at the lighter weights. But no one is unbeatable.

 

Fair points. I think if Floyd genuinely thought he could beat Manny in the late 2000s, he would not have waited five or six years to fight him. If they'd have fought between 2009 and 2011, it's a 50/50 fight, my money would still be on Floyd, though, but by the time they fought, the fight was stale. The Pacquiao that knocked out Hatton would've given Floyd nightmares, that's why he came out with all the needle BS for half a decade before deciding to fight him after Manny got knocked out cold by JMM.

I think Jones from the late 90s and early 2000s looked more unbeatable than Floyd, but we're talking about two ATG's here really - both have had HOF careers and will go down as legends of the sport.

 

It’s like comparing Ken Griffey Jr and Derek Jeter. Jeter had a more successful, arguably greater career. But Jr. got to be a super hero for a while there.

If I had a choice, I would rather be Jr. (Griffey and Jones) and experience those highs. But it comes down to what you value more. They’re great in different ways.

 

Tarver has a vested interest in arguing for Floyd being more beatable than Roy.

 

I wonder if he has any bias here.

 

I mean Floyd literally lost to JLC in their first fight. Floyd is an ATG but dont get it twisted, he gets STARCHED against SRL and Hearns. Hell I'm not even sure Floyd beats prime WW DLH...and thats no knock on Floyd.