If not for JLC, it would be a perfectly acceptable and non-controversial statement. Don't bring up Judah, he was competitive for a few rounds only. Don't bring up DLH, he was competitive until the halfway point when he "got too old for this ****" and abandoned his jab. Don't bring up Corley, he posed some difficulty but clearly not as much as JLC or Augustus (or the aforementioned two during their good early spells). And don't you DARE ****ing bring up Ortiz. At the end of the day, none of us were in the cockpit in Floyd's brain on those nights experiencing what he experienced from his perspective. Other factors we might not know about that could affect his own perception of those nights include: how well rested & hydrated he was for each, how well his camp went, how internally surprised he was by each man's style... So if - after all these years - he maintains that to him Augustus "felt" like the most difficult night (despite the appearance to us from the outside looking in that Castillo was actually most difficult) all we can do is take him at his word. :conf Or, call him a bald face liar as some choose. :yep
That was one of the times Floyd tried the "action fighter" style. He intentionally made it tougher on himself. Think ultimately, he decided that in the long term, it's better to be a more "safety first" type. Let the other dude be the action fighter, and take unnecessary punishment.
I agree, it's all subjective and higher quality opponents doesn't always translate into higher mental and physical difficulty.
I believe it, even though people may say he was slighting Castillo he basically, Castillo was basically mauling while not landing any effective blows, Augustus hit Floyd flush on many occasions, and forced Mayweather to take his breaks off the gas, compose himself, and adjust
Who knows if he's being truthful. However, if you're the one in the ring and fighting the fight, you have a different perspective than those on the outside. Pacquiao said that Cotto was his toughest fight in years even though he had just fought Marquez. It's all a matter of perspective. Augustus really made Mayweather work. Mayweather's face in that fight suffered more damage than it did against Castillo(although it must be noted that Castillo focused on the body). I expect Cotto to really push Mayweather is this fight. Cotto looks focused, determined, and confident. Win or lose, his opponents always know they were in a fight. This fight should be no different.
