How will boxing history remember Floyd Mayweather?

Didn't fight Floyd, only fight worth anything to me, beating up old and shot fighters that are bigger than him don't impressa me much.

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not interested in machoism? he has renamed himself money mayweather, comes onto stage carrying wads of $50 notes and consistently boasts how his fights have generated the most money ... and that he won't fight this fighter or that fighter unless he gets $30m etc. Infact I can't think of another fighter more preinterested/distracted by machoism and posturing...

who does/did Pacquiao need to beat to prove he is the best then? Apart from Mayweather obviously, who wants this that and everything to fight him

 

Barrera @ 126?

 

Nobody. "To be the man you have to beat the man". These two are undoubtedly the top two, no matter which way you see 1 and 2, no matter who either beat they can't claim to be the best of a generation until they prove it. I rank them both as ATG's but as with Joe, I don't know how he good he actually was and I don't know which one of those two would, I have my opinion of course as does everyone but that's meaningless.

 

I have him behind Hopkins.

Hey, Marquez deserves a shout as well IMO. He arguably has two wins over Pac, has been succesful at three weights, technically brilliant (different to Floyd of course but that doesn't mean inferior) and has taken on the best challenges he possibly can.

A few losses but, they don't necessarily define a fighter.

 

Well, if they don't fight each other than surely the one with the best resume reverts to top spot?

Anyways, B-Hop for me, above Floyd without a doubt. The claims of 'superior skill' cannot be levelled at B-Hop; he is arguably superior to Floyd, having looked amazing against sterner challenges than Mayweather, and must also gain kudos for fighting on to an incredible age.

 

As a fighter, simply he is spectacular. He always comes to the ring in supreme shape, and the way he avoids onslaughts is just fantastic to watch. He is without doubt an ATG, and probably rates in the top 5 Super featherweights of all time. He was an absolute beast down there. He has travelled up in weight tremendously well, winning belts from SFW up to LMW even if his power hasn't travelled up with him.

But he will always be a 'what if' man IMO. What if Mayweather had fought Cotto, Margo, a prime Mosley, Pacquiao, Paul Williams, Martinez, hell even a Cintron? I truly believe he had the beating of all of these fighters making them look amateurish in the process, but for whatever reason he chose not to fight them. For that reason, he will always live in the shadow of the man from the Philippines.

Floyd Mayweather is/was truly a fantastic fighter. But how great was he? We won't really no which is a crying shame!

 

how can anyone seriously say Hopkins has a better record than Floyd?

 

Ummm.....better opposition, one of the greatest middleweights of all time, carried on fighting/beating top opposition way past his prime?

Unless of course the '0' is more aesthetically pleasing.

 

Until Floyd met Castillo, he looked all-set to be an ATG. After that he’s become more and more cautious. The result of that, along with his safety-first style in the ring, makes it hard to certify his greatness.

He’s an accomplished, highly-skilled boxer. He has real offensive and defensive skills, even at welter. He’ll make for an ugly fight against anyone in and around his weight-class. But what he’s done in his career isn’t exceptional and he’s rarely made for a fight where I’ve been left in awe.

He might be happy with his legacy, but he’s not troubling the top-ten WWs of all-time.

 

Great win, no doubt about it but that was 1 win 8 years ago. To me he lost to JMM since then and Erik Morales, he is a great fighter no doubt about it, as was Joe and Floyd but there unwillingness to fight the best makes my view of them just a little tainted.

In my opinion neither are even in the same league as someone like Sugar Ray Robinson (agreed almost nobody is) but I would rate the winner that highly if they fought and won impressively.

@Davro, in that case I put Froch above Pacquiao... jokes! The resume will just slightly elevate my opinion of one over the other, not define the best of the generation but hey ATG lists are all opinion anyway.

 

Because he does.

 

I still think we will see him fight again but if this is to be his last fight..

Allot of it depends on what you percieve as an ATG or a great fighter to be. Personally I do not think he is up there with the greats like Robinson, Armstrong, Leonard, Duran, Ali etc but his record and achievments deserve respect.

He is under rated by many, possibly over rated by many more. The truth is he lies somewhere in between.

The negatives..

He has obviously picked and choosed his battles later on in his career, which seems a trate of most fighters in the modern era and theres allot of big fights that have not materialsed in Margorito, Cotto and most natably Pacquiao. I think to lay the blame soley on Mayweather for those fights not happening would be unfair. Ask yourself who promotes them, and what that promoter has done with those 3 fighters in the past few years. Its also worth noting Arum has gone on record in saying that he Floyd chased Casamayor while at lightweight and wanted the Cotto fight at 140lbs.

Mayweather is not the first and won't be the last boxer to put the prize before the figting. He is undefeated but has been protected. The whole drug testing saga, although I do not feel it this was Mayweathers intention, the sport would be in a stronger position if they were to implement the kind of testing he requested for all world title fights.

His fights have often lacked the drama to really excite fight fans, mainly due to his dominance of his opponents. He hasn't had any wars and he is not a risk taker. In his last two fights he seems to coast to a decision when his men were there for the taking. A truly great fighter would take the risk and take there man out in the later rounds.

The posatives....

Clearly he is an extrordinary talent which has come from a combination of natural abilty mixed with an incredicle work ethic. The guy trains hard and its not just for the cameras. He has got the top, as he says himself, through "hardwork and dedication" to his craft.

His actual style and his fights are not everyones cup of tea but those that enjoy that style of fighter love to watch him. I personally think he is a pleasure to watch. Highly skilled, a hugley intelligent fighter, stanima in abundance, fast hands, exceptional foot work, he has the shoulder roll defence as perfected as one can get it. If he is not the best defensive fighters of his generation he is certainly up there.

The Achievments....

First of all you cannot forget the Bronze medal at the Olympics games. Anyone who watched that semi final will tell you he was robbed as well. He became a World titlist after only 2 years as a pro in his 19th fight, beating Genaro Hernandez who was lineal champion at the time. He did the same at Lightweight beating Jose Luis Castillo. Its was a controverial fight some felt Mayweather should have lost, an he imediatley rematched Castillo to a clear UD. He defended his lineal titles at those weights 11 times before moving up to Light Welterweight, Welterweight and Light Middleweight and winning belts. Perhaps he cherry picked at those weights, but he did win the lineal title at Welterweight agaisnt Baldomir. He is been heavily critasised for fighting small men, when in truth he was reguarly outweighed by supposed smaller opponents when he entered the ring. He has only been dropped one time, due to a hand injury more than a punch, and hurt badly on a few occasions where he showed he has a strong chin and a fighting heart.

In the age of multi weights and multi belts, he never won a vacant title, and won the true lineal title in 3 weight classes. He has been fighting at world level for over 10 years, and nobody could say he is not in the top 10 fighters of the past decade (2000-2009). 25 fights at world level, and 41 fights without being defeated.


Mayweather the man, I do not think should even be considered in this discussions but everyone will have the opinions. He has said some trully outlandish and arrogant things but thats not different to allot of All time Great fighters and athletes for that matter. The Money Mayweather character is exactly that, a character that made him appeal to to general sports fan to make more money. Before the Gatti fight he was the the boxing cliche of an exceptional talent that failed to sell tickets and PPV's. When he added the trash talk, the brash a cocky comments, the 1million+ PPV's began. You cannot fault him for that.

I don't think Mayweather should be rememberd as an All time Great but he should be rememberd as a great fighter. There is a major difference between the two. He is great but not the greatest. He has certainly lived a tumultuous life. Inside the ring he achieved international stardom, it seems outside the ring he has suffered from personal issues that cut his career short and will not allow him to leave the legacy his talents and hard work may deserve. He more than deserves his place in the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

In response to the 5 questions....

How do you remember Floyd Mayweather?

As a fighter I loved to watch and as the best of my era.

Is he an ATG fighter?

No.

What could he or should he have done different/better?

Fight Pacquiao.

How would he fare against the top fighters in his particular weight classes?

I think he is a tough fight for anyone between 130-147lbs ever. Hearns does not knock him out in 1 round and Flea and Beeston say.

Are his fans more irritating than Klitschko/Pacquiao's

As bad as Pacquiao, not as bad as Klitscko's. If your a fan of Klitskco's your not a fan of boxing.

 

Not to pick on your post, which is a pretty fair assessment, but Hernandez had already lost to Oscar De La Hoya at 135 three years earlier. Which was nothing to be ashamed of considering Oscar was a beast at that stage of his career.

Hernandez won his next fight against the legendary Azumah Nelson who was past his best, losing his next fight to Jesse James Leija. He retired for a long, long time after.

The Floyd fight was impressive because Floyd beat a very experience campaigner comprehensively, despite his own inexperience. But you need to put it in some perspective, since he retired right after the loss.

The Olympics really has no bearing on his pro career, same as it doesn’t for Evander Holyfield. It’s an interesting side-note, but not one that defined their careers (unlike Oscar, for example).

 

ATG talent, HOF career.

Best defensive fighter of his generation (2000's)

Smart & highly skilled in the ring, controversial outside the ring.

He achieved a lot, but, perhaps could have gone on & done even more.