In the last 3 years I was annoyed with his hand picked opponents. He was thinking only about money and not about creating a legacy and giving the fans the fights they wanna see. But stepping up to 154 to face the much bigger DLH and fighting an undefeated animal in his prime in Hatton is more than you can ask for one fighting year. If Floyd beats Hatton, I'll put him at the top 15 of my all time pound for pound list.
When Floyd beats Hatton, it will help his legacy a lot, but it wouldn't even bring him close to top 15 of all time. He will need to clean out the division until that's considerable. I agree with you that the Oscar win was a real challenge though and he doesn't get much praise for beating him.
Everytime he's in there with the "biggest and strongest" opponent he faces and he wins he gets no praise. Hatton fight helps legacy...winner of Mosely/Cotto is what he needs after Hatton. Everyone can say Paul Williams, Paul Williams...thing is, the fight is pointless at this point, and will never be made for logical reasons. Williams won't make 147 for more than another year. Williams has no legacy yet. Williams isn't really even tested yet. He needs a couple big wins before being considered a marketable opponent. It's not a logical fight. 10 years Mayweather has been a champion, one month Williams has been a champion. A win means nothing, especially a decisive win for PBF because "Floyd has the experience and skill". Yes, the true fans will care, but as far as legacy a Williams fight means nothing. (as far as dealing with Williams range...have u seen how he gets inside on the Super-middleweights he spars with? I think Floyd has no problem with rangey cats, but prefers them) Not a huge Floyd fan, love to watch him fight though...i like thinking fighters, i like defensive skill, i don't need punchers to enjoy boxing. BUT, seen Cotto ringside 3 times and the man is a focused beast...he breaks you. I'm bothered by some of Floyd's actions, yet i'm bothered by some of his critics too. If Cotto takes Mosely, and Floyd fights Cotto win or lose...Floyd gets big honors from me.
Honestly nothing agaisnt Cotto, but he prolly has one of the worst chances in the division of beating Floyd because of his style...But i do think he is in the top 3 of the division and could pretty much beat all of them head to head except Mosley and Mayweather (both just style mismatches for Cotto in my opinion) EDIT: Awesome post RR94
true, you aint lyin. but some crybabies will say mayweather still taking the eay route by not fighting a real welter. so assuming he beats hatton, he gotta fight the winner of cotto-mosley or paul williams.
Mayweather has earned my respect...I hope he continues to take on top challenegers should he beat Hatton.
