Mayweather better than ali??

Mayweather has never actually fought a great fighter near his prime. Corrales, Castillo, Hatton etc...all good fighters but not greats, they're a level below that. De La Hoya could be great but he couldn't even pull the trigger, he was past it, hence why Pacquiao destroyed him soon after.

That's why Mayweather needs to fight Pacquiao to solidify himself as a top echelon great. A truely great fighter in his prime.

 

The opponents he beat suggests otherwise. Fantastic head/body combination puncher, had some stiffs in there, but the Sweet Pea fiasco aside (had Pea winning 117-111) he was consistently brilliant.

I personally have no problem with the Taylor result either. The fighters are there for 36 minutes, Chavez needed it all but got it done. The state of Taylor then/now suggests he came off far worse, despite outpunching Chavez in all the rounds (only slightly superior quality gave Julio 3 rounds on my card leading to the stoppage)

 

Good post. I'll add that Oscar didn't look great (and got marked up) against non-punching gatekeeper Forbes.

 

Whats your definition of a great fighter ?

 

I think you are misreading my point.

By saying someone is overrated, I aren't by any means saying that I don't rate them - I just think that there are more than 30 fighters in the history of boxing than Chavez - including all the fighters you listed in response to the point regarding Mayweather's standing.

 

**** me, what a question.

Put it this way, your criteria needs re-assessing if you think Floyd is anywhere near the top 50, let alone top 20.

 

I'd rate Chavez above Hagler/Hearns personally. I wasn't saying you didn't rate him either, but I can see no argument for placing Chavez outside of say, the top 35.

 

I think Corrales and Castillo were prime, they just weren't great fighters. There is nothing they did that would justify them being great fighters, they wouldn't be on a top 100 by any means. They are probably Mayweather's best opponents so far IMO.

De La Hoya would but as we all know he was past it, slower, lacked 12 round stamina and more easily hit. Compare to the Trinidad fight for a prime example, he was much sharper in every aspect.

Mayweather actually needs Pacquiao more than the reverse but then again he claims he's not interested in legacy. Pacquiao has fought and beat the great Mexicans all at their best weights. Pacquiao has transcended the weight classes and done it incredible style, a style Mayweather has rarely matched since moving up in weight.

 

Well just rate him over Leonard - they have a comparable record in terms of how many fights they had.

 

ok, here's the reality of the guys you've listed:

JMM - a career superfeather who moved up from LW where he was already looking at his limits. He then fought as a fat 142lbs or something and had neither the skill, speed or physical attributes needed to be competitive. No-one seriously picked him to win and, unsurprisingly, he didn't.

Hatton - a good win, but the fact is that Ricky was a light welter who had looked crap since beating Kostya Tszyu. He'd been all over the place against the light-hitting mediocre Collazo.

Gatti - Come on! He's a very brave fighter, but he lost to Angel Manfredy FFS, who Floyd slaughtered in two rounds

Castillox2 - you can easily argue he lost to Castillo, but these were good wins, though struggling in two close fights with a one-dimensional slugger like Castillo hardly speaks highly of his abilities in a historical sense.

Oscar - decent win, but Oscar was a part-time fighter who was clearly faded. Floyd was a 2-1 favourite and was basically beating a name who was still competitive with him.

Judah - who was nothing great at welter and had just lost to Baldomir... it's a great performance though, especially between rounds 6-11.

Baldomir - you have to be kidding little BoxRec warrior. No one gave Baldomir a chance other than to be tough and take Floyd 12 rounds. His best wins were over Gatti (the same one you're lauding hilariously) and Judah. Neither of which were that great to begin with.

Corrales - he fought him when he was dead at the weight and, let's be fair, Corrales is over-rated on the back of Corrales-Castillo. It's a good win because of Floyd's fantastic performance though. to name but a few

If you think that's good, you need to watch more boxing, champ.

 

:happy:good:deal

 

I take your points mate and some of your criticisms see harsh but tis is a game of opinions ! .... but who else in world boxing today has a CV comparable with that ? ... pacman obviously ....

But dont you think its not winning its how you win ? ... hes not a brawler hes a boxer ... hes good to watch and wins well ...hes no Gatti or Hagler performance wise but he does what he does as well as anyone in the game today !

 

:good