Mayweather doesn't seem all too popular on Classic at the time being. Is he underrated? Are we glossing over a centurial talent? Someone we see once or twice within 100 years? Should his name be revered in the same token as Gans, Greb, and Robinson? I think the answer is a clear yes. When it comes to reflexes, timing, and boxing IQ, does it get better? A near flawless talent who beat everyone he fought. A defensive wizard who broke apart high level opponent after high level opponent. Possessing maniacal focus throughout his career, and trained like a monk. And probably the most consistent performer of all time. Should we pay less attention to his pop culture villainous trifles, and start comparing him with the same measuring stick we do other champions of the past? Is it time yet?
I think h2h he is clearly in that branch. But résumé wise I think he's limited by the era he's in. And not being able (or needing) to have 250+ fights to create some of the most insane résumés ever.
Your precious time wasted on this?? Stick to your awesome vids we all love !! haha … he is "fairly" rated here for me. Resume guys let him have it.. Eye test guys praise him
Between '98 and '07 he was pretty consistently brilliant but most of his career activity came in the first ten years of his career. Career '96-'05: 35-0 (24 kos) Best wins: Genaro Hernandez Diego Corrales Jose Luis Castillo A lot of his current rep stems from his comebacks from '09 on where he fought sporadically. The names look far more impressive but the cherry picking in terms of timing and favourable circumstances of those bouts takes some of the shine off. Career '06-'17: 15-0 (3 kos) Best wins: Zab Judah Ricky Hatton Oscar De La Hoya Juan Manuel Marquez Shane Mosley Miguel Cotto Canelo Alvarez Manny Pacquiao
Mayweather is exceptional but has some question marks. He had some lucky decisions (eg Castillo) and he often stacked the deck for himself with weight games (eg Canelo). Then there's the PEDs angle where anybody else would have been banned for masking and he got a retroactive exemption. And finally, he waited for guys like Pacquiao to age and slow down before going anywhere near them. He never fought guys like Khan who had a clear speed edge over him. I'd rate him highly but not as high as past ATG's who didn't indulge in such games.
If we took the average atg ranking of Mayweather by the more knowledgeable posters on this forum, his rank would probably be between 25 - 30. That's not bad at all, especially since few of those top 30 would have fought in the last 40 years. If we judge him against his atg peers of the last say 50 years, he would be clearly top ten rubbing shoulders with Duran, Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, Monzon, Chavez, Whitaker, RJJ, and Pacquiao. That's good company.
