I acknowledge Floyd as one of if not the best fighter of his era with skill and ability that would allow him to compete with fighters in ANY era from 130-147(not saying he'd win or be favored in every mythical matchup but he'd at least be competitive) But the problem I have with him is his mouth. He deserves mention with the greats at 130 and 135 but at 147 he needs to meet and beat all the name challengers out there in order to leave no stones unturned. He speaks so highly of himself and expects everyone else to do so BEFORE he has even has those fights....and belittled legends of the past who have losses from fighting the best available competition. Also I'm turned off by anyone who hears the same statements I hear Floyd say and observes the same actions I see Floyd do and they will go out of their way to JUSTIFY EVERY SINGLE THING HE DOES OR EVEN BLAME IT ON OTHER FIGHTERS/PROMOTERS/MONEY/THE WEATHER/ECT like they're earning salary as his defense attorney. I hate to break it to you but yes there are things Floyd says and does that can't be spun into being reasonable or acceptable. It's blind bias and dillusion if you do that with EVERY SINGLE THING HE DOES. And if someone finds one little thing wrong with what he says or does they are branded a hater and then the 'Imma get my big brother Floyd on fighter such and such and then you'll see' or 'how many losses does so and so have' tirades come out. You have to have some objectivity about any fighter and hold them accountable for it. Bashing one fighter for doing one thing but then writing a 1000 word essay on why Floyd doing it is justified is just being very blind.
There are a few fighters I'd put ahead of him on the GOAT list(one being SRR and there is absolutely no shame in that) but he ultimately will be mentioned at the very least in the top 20 all time(for those who are modest) I think in a different era his mentality would be different in regards to fighting everyone available(he'd be like Basilio if he fought in his time just a different style) Also the whole weird Ellerbe thing wouldn't fly like today...badum-ting!