FLOYD: No one can tell me that Ali & Sugar Ray Robinson were greater than me..VID

Although I've heard him say similar things in the past, IMHO, I can only think that he's trolling to increase the revenue on May the 2nd. I genuinely hope that's the case. He embraces the bad guy roll, and although he's obviously got millions of fans, he knows there's an awful lot of people out there who buy his PPV's, in the hope of seeing him get beat. All publicity is good publicity, and his haters who have a burning desire to see him lose, will pay the PPV and make him more money. He's alluded to this in the past. So I can only think that he's not speaking literally in that interview.

If he was being serious in that interview, then it was just pure illogical ignorance. You can tear down everything he says and make him look like a complete fool in the process.

When ranking fighters, you have to an*lyse many factors, and also allow for any/all circumstances.


Let's have a look at some of the things he said in the interview:

Ali was a HW, he could only fight in one weight class. If Floyd fought in earlier era's, he would never have been the 5 weight champ that he is today, because there were only 8 divisions.

True. He should never have been fighting at that point. But plenty of fighters have fought way past their best, including SRR, SRL, Louis, RJJ, etc. But you take that into account with everything else they did, and not just focus on that alone. Also, Floyd himself could continue way past his best and be defeated. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see him fight into his 40's, despite what he's said about retirement.

Wow! Ali's win over Foreman was one of the biggest wins in the history of boxing. Hardly anyone gave Ali a chance against the young 25 year old George Foreman, who'd crushed Joe Frazier. People feared for Ali's life. Ali simply had only two choices:

1. To take the fight and implement his famous 'rope a dope' tactics, because at 32, there's no way he could have been on his toes for 15 rounds like he could in the previous decade.

2. Decline the fight.

He took the fight and implemented his tactics, which was the bravest/stupidest thing any guy in Ali's situation could have done. A 60's Ali would have danced all night, but in 74, Ali knew that he would have faded at the half way point, and would more than likely have been knocked out. So he made the decision to let a 25 year old monster wail away at his body for 8 rounds. He took such an awful pounding, he urinated blood afterwards. Ali had heart and courage that Floyd only wishes he had. This was a guy who fought Norton with a broken jaw. Ali was brave, too brave for his own good. He didn't take little vacations like Floyd did. Floyd's a guy who's obsessed with money, who's in the cheque cashing business, yet who retired when Oscar begged for a rematch, only to return and fight Ricky Hatton. Floyd could only dream of having a Foreman like win on his resume.

With regards to SRR, Many people class him as the GOAT, as he was seen as the perfect fighter in his prime. This is a guy who along with many others of the same era, fought over 200 times as a professional. He fought Jake La Motta, and then rematched him just three weeks later in one of the series of fights they shared. Ray didn't fight once or twice per year. If you transported Ray into today's era, where he only fought between 2-4 times per year, and had 10 week camps, he'd probably be unstoppable. But if you transported Floyd into Ray's era where he had over 200 fights, fighting once per month, then there's no way that Floyd's zero would have stayed intact.

I've also heard Floyd speaking of how he holds himself in higher regard than SRL, on the basis that Ray lost 5 fights.

Floyd's one of the best of all time, he's got a huge ego, and I've no issue with him putting himself up there with the other greats of the past. But I just wish he'd do it without comparing stats, not allowing for circumstances, and being disrespectful.

 

:rofl

:good

 

It's not about what he thinks, it's the logic and disrespect that he uses.

 

A truly awful post.

atsch

Go and educate yourself.

 

:good

This may well happen.

 

Why can't he just say that he feels as though he believes he's in Ray and Ali's company?

Why does he have to use the term brainwashed and then mention how Ali took punishment in the Foreman fight etc?

Unless he's saying it to increase the revenue for his fight with Manny, it's totally disrespectful and uncalled-for.

 

Honestly, I think he's just brainwashing himself, and he has a lot of "yes men" around him that I'm pretty sure echoes his sentiments on how great he is on a regular basis.

IMO the guy is the greatest fighter of this era, probably the best fighter since Jones Jr/Whitaker/Chavez Sr were dominating boxing. It would be nice if he worded things with a little more humility, but I don't feel he should be criticized for stating he feels he's better than those guys.

The guy has almost 50 fights under his belt, has beaten close to 10 HOF fighters and is the simultaneous lineal champion in 2 different weight classes. I just don't think it's delusions of grandeur on his end for him to feel he's the best ever. He has accomplished a great deal in boxing and is definitely an ATG.

Now personally I don't think he even cracks the top 20 ever, but whose to say anyway? It's different eras, different styles, different training/conditioning, etc. For his era, he's been dominant for an insanely long period of time. As he continues to win into his late 30's, he's entering uncharted waters because the majority of ATG's were a shell of their former selves by their mid 30's.

You can't ostracize a guy whose had championships in 3 different decades now for thinking too highly of himself. He seems like he suffers a bit from a napolean complex, but him having that chip on his shoulder works for him.

 

Joe Budden has an opinion to when he claimed he was better than Method Man and he got punched in the mouth for it. That 0 in his record has made him delusional. How can you not say these guys are better when you took from their style. That is like Kobe saying he is better than Mike and he is a carbon copy of Mike. Maybe just maybe May 2nd will be a humbling experience for Floyd.

 

Yet he is 2nd to SRR who in fact was Ali's idol meanwhile

Floyd isn't even on their level and never will be no matter how much money he makes :good

 

Effect of roids.

 

:good 1 word - zelenoff.

 

If any top 30 fighter had Floyd' resume, they would probably also be undefeated and have won in more devastating fashion. JMO

 

:deal

 

But look at Robinson's resume:

Lamotta
Angott
Basilio
Fullmer
Kid Gavilan
Armstrong
Graziano
Turpin

 

Now compare that to Floyd's amazinggly great resume:

MaidanaX2
Guerrero
Ortiz
Cotto (after Cotto was Brutally, and I mean BRUTALLY ****d)
Judah
Oscar De La Hoya
Hatton