Can you justify putting Floyd Mayweather Jr in a top 10 ATG list?

He's doing fine for his age, yes.
I don't take current p4p rankings too seriously. In an all-time list it can be done because we are comparing entire careers across eras, but the idea that a flyweight is currently competing with a heavyweight for a ranking is a bit absurd.

I don't think his resume is weak.
In historical terms it is not very strong.

Pacquiao was never going to win the fight. Certainly not post-2012.
The fight had very little relevance in terms of sporting significance, it was just a huge event driven by massive hype and ironically the grudge existing because of the fact that it didn't happen when it was supposed to.
Knowledgeable fans knew this all, a year or two ago. Predictably, many of them quickly forgot reality when the fight was made. And all of us HOPED it might be a classic contest still.

Even so, the "fight" fell below even my most realistic and cynical expectations.

To be fair to the "fighters", they both did well to not burst out laughing in utter glee at the astronomical money they were making for doing so little.

 

It's interesting that his 6 year ducking of Pacquiao and the obvious decline in Pacquiao has been whitewashed, even among usually knowledgeable posters here.
It's an Orwellian re-writing of history.

I suppose with "earnings" and "PPV numbers" considered criteria of greatness, it can all be justified and forgiven.

 

Pacquaio was super eager for the fight to happen.

 

Yes, in 2009 it was basically a done deal. It would have happened it March 2010 if Mayweather hadn't sabotaged it.
The rest of the soap opera isn't worth going over.

Needless to say, both of them very happy to make $$$$$$$$$ HUNDREDS MILLIONS without engaging in any real hostilities.

 

Right now I would say no, but he's knocking on the door. I'd say he's around a top 15-20 fighter, so if anyone wanted to put him into the top 10, I wouldn't argue much about it, as long as it was no higher than 9th.

 

I think in time more people than not may have him in there. I would not be surprised to see in say, 20 years, his name in quite a few top 10 lists.

I don't know if he quite deserves it, but he can't be all that far away from it either.

 

Still making excuses for pacquiao? He lost to a 38 year old Mayweather. Think mayweather was close to his prime?

 

if ray leonard can make the top 10 why wouldn't Floyd?

 

ATG rankings are mythical and mostly biased one way or other.

I just leave it there,that Floyd is in the same club with the greatest fighters ever.

 

And he hasn't beat a single ATG in their prime in the space of 20 years/three decades!

 

Ray beat ATG's (a bunch of them) and he beat them in their prime.

Floyd hasn't done that ONCE in TWENTY YEARS.

 

Sure he has. He's arguably faced 10 or 11 guys who may be in the Hall of Fame one day (Hernandez, Gatti, Oscar, Cotto, Alvarez, Pacquiao, Marquez, Mosley, Hatton, Corrales, Castillo) spread out over all the weight classes he's fought in ... three are already in ... and he's beaten them all.

And he's still fighting.

By comparison, Whitaker only faced four hall of famers (Nelson, Chavez, De La Hoya and Trinidad) and only defeated one of them.

You could make an argument that Mayweather could easily be in the top 10 right now if he retired today. But let's see how he ends up.

He could win another eight to 10 fights, or he could lose 10 in a row. Some guys finish strong, some don't ... like Roy Jones.

It's difficult to accurately rate fighters when they (and their opponents) are still active.

 

Well, if four is "a bunch," then he did.

Mayweather's already beaten three. And Pac is a lock. So is Marquez. So that makes five.

If Leonard's four is a bunch .. what is Mayweather's five?

 

He's a fantastic talent, I don't think that can be disputed. The problem with him is he's the ultimate negative fighter. He stymies the other guy, and doesn't give a **** about how the fight looks to the public. As long as he gets the decision he's happy.

Compare that to Ray Leonard both out boxing and out punching Wilfred Benitez or Robinson warring with LaMotta. Those were defining fights for two greats who who boxed AND fought. Mayweather's reluctance to take risks marks him lower in my book than quite a few fighters, despite his brilliant skills.