Better resume Ali vs Mayweather

The guy we are talking about lost to a journeyman in his prime and lost to another member of the IBHOF twice by stoppage, a tko and disqualification in his near post prime. He was also 2-3 against other members of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. If we didn't know the name and the myth that surrounds the name no one would say that person is the BOAT or GOAT.

 

He didn’t lose to a journeyman.

But yeah, he only gave us 5 great years.

 

My rankings- Can/Journeyman/Near Great/ Great./All Time Great

 

A DQ is not a stoppage. It's a DQ.

 

The fight was stopped because he ate his opponent's ear.

 

This made me laugh out loud.

 

Okay.

I would use different terminology.

Douglas was a very capable world level fighter.

 

Forgot about contender.

 

TY. That's where I would put James.

 

Ali was 36 years old, was in the early stages of Parkinson's, and had been fighting at the amateur and professional level for twenty four years when he lost to Spinks.. Mike Tyson was 24 years old when he lost to Douglas. To put in perspective Ali was fighting as long as Tyson was alive when he lost to Spinks. It's like comparing Willie Mays in a New York Giants uniform and in a San Francisco Giants uniform. Who does that? And he has two unavenged losses to Evander Holyfield in a period that should have been very close to his prime. Mike Tyson does not have the resume to make him BOAT, GOAT, or TBE. Holmes and Spinks are in the IBHOF based on their entire body of work. No one is saying Tyson wasn't great. But being great is different than being the GOAT, the BOAT, or TBE.

 

The only reference point for what heavyweight champions who won the belt at age twenty “should” be doing at about age thirty is Mike Tyson.

 

Is he the only reference point for heavyweight boxers who lost the belt at twenty four years old and never regained it? Does that or does that not disqualify him from being TBE, GOAT, or BOAT?

 

He’s number 5 on my list at heavyweight. I don’t care about meaningless abbreviations.

 

James Douglas was never a journeyman on any night.

 

My argument isn't that he wasn't a top ten heavyweight but that he wasn't the number one heavyweight. Wilfred Benitez won his first professional title at 17. No one argues he's the the the #1 welterweight of all time.