According to all of his fans, and when you look into the realtiy of the situation, he never truly overcame adversity. He "won" a questionable fight against Oscar in which neither fighter was hurt, but Floyd was on the defensive for almost the entirety of the fight, but unable to get off his right hand, save for a few moments, thereby making his punches void of power. Then he won against a guy that everybody knew he was going to win against, regardless of who they wanted to win, and a guy that couldn't hang with any of the top guys at 147. Not to mention it was a guy who hasn't faced a pure boxer in years. Think about it though, who could Hatton beat at 147? Cotto, Williams, Mosley, Margarito, Clottey, and Cintron would all likely beat him. Margarito is too big and too strong, Mosley and Cotto would likely outbox him, he wouldn't be able to touch Williams, Cintron would tag him coming in as Ricky comes straight in, and Clottey would beat him at his own game. So, essentially Floyd beat the easiest possible opponent. An opponent who had negligable experience against boxers, doesn't use the jab, comes in straight foward, and has a 6 inch reach disadvantage. Yet, Floyd deserves to be fighter of the year? If you look at Pavlik and Cotto, they both overcame adversity and were both underdogs going into their fights, and WON, convincingly, especially in Pavlik's case. And those of you that are going to cry about how Cotto didn't beat Mosley; Mosley himself admitted that Cotto beat him. Deal with it.
2007 Floyd SD over a shot ATG titlist from 1 division up Domination and KO over an undisputed champ from 1 division down Pavlik KO over a top 15 contender (only man to ever KO him) KO over a top 3 contender (only man to ever KO him) KO over the undefeated unisputed champion in a close fight Cotto KO over a top10 fighter close UD over a past prime ATG
Questionable? You are only calling it questionable because of your dislike for Floyd. Hatton, a lot of people were 70-30 or 65-35 on picking Floyd of Hatton. Thats not gaurenteed at all. Hatton who was knocking people out on his way to Floyd. Stop using 147 as an excuse. ITS NOT LEGIT. Heres why. 1. Mayweather started at 130 lbs. 2. The night of the fight, Hatton was weighing 154 lbs. That's approximately the same he is when he is fighting at Jr. Welterweight. And Floyd was 149. Pavlik scored a KO over Miranda. Which that was big for him. After that though. I favored him over Jermain like a lot of people. Jermain is a total bust. JERMAIN almost lost to Spinks. SPINKS. If I had to choose between Mayweather and Pavlik. The slight edge goes to Floyd. Talk about picking easy opponents. Urkal. Cause we all know Urkal was a huge threat. And Zab Judah. Zab has lost his steam. Floyd doesn't get credit for his win over Zab and NEITHER will Cotto. He had to cheat to win and proved he can't hang with anyone who has speed. And the only reason he got by the speed was because Judah cant stay that pace for 12 rounds. BTW Judah was coming off 2 losses and a draw. Mosley - Mosley was 36. Past it and he struggled with him, getting hurt tremendously and losing on my card and a lot of other peoples card. Mayweather deserves it because he beat the Golden Boy in a clear victory and DOMINATED Ricky Hatton. He deserves it because hes so good, he didn't have to overcome adversity. Adversity is something you overcome if you have to, not something you put yourself into to get out of.
As much of a floyd fan i am, i do have to agree with you. I dont believe floyd should be the FIGHTER of the year. Kelly Pavlik should definately win that crown. He knocked out Edison Miranda and Jermain Taylor in impressive fashion, overcoming adversity in each fight. I dont think Cotto has done more than Mayweather tho because Cotto beat an Over The Hill Mosley and an inconsistant Zab Judah. Mayweather did the same thing by beating an Over The Hill De La Hoya but defeating a Prime Ricky Hatton. If the Figher Of The Year was based on who has the most boxing skills and displayed those skills in that year, then no doubt it would go to Mayweather, but the title is based on who showed the most heart, courage, and ability to do what no one thought they would be able to, that and who was most exciting. With that said, I believe Kelly Pavlik deserves the crown as Fighter of the Year.
Urkal was his mandatory. And who can Ricky beat at 147? The fight took place as the WELTERWEIGHT championship of the world, not the JUNIOR WELTERWEIGHT, but the WELTERWEIGHT championship of the world. So, was Ricky the TRUE #1 contendor. Answer that question because if that's the case, you gotta favor the man over most of all of the fighters in the division. So who can Ricky beat and HOW?
let the man take a few months off before asking him about his next fight. Mayweather - Cotto was turned down by Bob Arum when they both were under his banner as 140 pounders. It's likely to happen in the summer '08.
A few things. It doesn't matter if Ricky was #1 at 147. He was number the MAN at 140. I don't see anyone complaining about when Hagler opted to fight Sugar Ray Leonard at 160. I dont see ANYONE complaining to Hagler when he fought Hearns at 160 and made him come up. The champions of a weight class up or below fight it each other. It was a fight that people wanted. Who else did you want him to fight? Cotto didn't beat Mosley yet. Margo lost. Paul Williams is green and went after Cintron after his fight with Margo was over. So if Floyd like you say gets no credit for Hatton. Hagler deserves 0 credit for taking on Hearns. And BTW - Hatton came in at 154. The EXACT weight he weighs for 140 fights. And Floyd was his exact weight he would weigh for a 140 fight. So basically, it took place for the Welterweight championship even though they both weighed in like 140lbers.
WRONG. Floyd hasn't weighed over 150 but only in his Oscar fight and that was the night of the fight with clothes on. Hatton came into the fight at 154. The EXACT weight of his Jr Welterweight fights. Floyd on fightnight was 149. Exactly what Floyd weighs for Jr Welterweight fights.
Do you think clowns who keep bringing up the weight issue actually believe that's a valid argument? :huh
They dont want it to be. They are a bunch of ******s. Thats why half of them see it and ignore it because they have no response.
I have a hard time with these types of arguments. They are different fighters, with different styles, fighting different opponents. It makes comparing them on equal footing impossible. It's like saying Porsche is better than Ferrari or vice-versa. There's no clear way of quantifying what is better. If Hatton had PBF hurt several times, or knocked him down, then PBF came back in a gutty performance to win, we'd be saying "Wow what a performance! He came back and showed true grit and heart". It's not his fault that he doesn't allow this stuff to happen, and often makes his opponents look amatuerish. Pavlik, PBF, and Cotto all performed fantastic this last year. You can't fault any of them for their performances, since they all fought great fighters and came out on top. Each of them deserves all the accolades reaped upon them, and it's just a matter of who you like best.