It boosts the standing of his career OVERALL not when the fight took place. Like I said fighters improve. Canelo captured the MW title 3 years after he fought Floyd, and since he was still 22 his body was still developing. Cotto got the title from a shot, jelly legged Martinez 2 years after he fought Floyd, in a way a lot of people didn't expect, after he started training with Roach.
I would rather be a 22 year old large Jr. middle, 40+ wins and 6 title defenses deep, unified titlist having beaten the no.2 or 3 in the division (Trout) behind myself than a 36 year old welterweight champion who could barely exceed 150 pounds dripping wet.
Well, I hear about how "green" Canelo was pretty frequently while Floyd's age and size are downplayed. Canelo dod improve, but I still consider that his prime. I'm pretty sure he studies Floyd's moves based on some of the things he does in the ring.
That has nothing to do with point. I specifically said Mayweather hasn't beaten any of his best opponents in their prime. Which is true. I never said anything about Mayweather's own age. Yes he got older too. I'm not saying he didn't and I never said he stayed 28 his whole career. I said the big names he beat were over the hill and they were. Does it detract from his legacy that his best names were past prime? Well let's see. Does a win over 1990 Leonard mean less than 1980 Leonard?
That's a perfectly reasonable position to have (even if I don't agree with) since that takes on account what Canelo was when their fight took place not what he would become three years later. Which, BTW is not the MW champion. Not Cotto, not Canelo, and we all know why. You're not gonna swat a middle aged man with shot knees or a 35 years old JMW and tell me you're the MW champion of the world. Please. That's not a even an elephant in the room. That's a whale on your lap. And no, I'm not bleach eyed, nor I am an Kazakh cheerleader.
Martinez was A champ. But fine by me. None of this has **** to do with Floyd anyway, which was my original point.
Over the hill? Oscar was the best junior middleweight in the world when Mayweather beat him. (If he wasn't, who was?) Shane Mosley was the best welterweight in the world when Mayweather beat him. (If he wasn't, who was? Because it wasn't Margarito.) Ricky Hatton was the best Super Lightweight in the world when he moved up to challenge Mayweather. (If Hatton wasn't, who was?) Manny Pacqauio was no worse than the second-best fighter pound-for-pound fighter on the planet when he signed to fight Mayweather. (If he wasn't, I don't know who was.) Also ... Does it detract from Mayweather's legacy that after he beat Jose Luis Castillo for the lineal lightweight title ... that Castillo regained the title and held it for several years ... beating the likes of Joel Casamayor, Juan Lazcano, Diego Corrales and Julio Diaz? And he in fact fought for another 12 years? NO. It does not detract from Floyd's resume. Does it detract from Mayweather's legacy that after he beat Diego Corrales in a unification ... that Corrales went on to regain a Super Featherweight (against Joel Casamayor) and moved up to Lightweight and won a title there (against Acelino Freitas) and won arguably the fight of the decade against Jose Luis Castillo? And that Corrales continued to be a top fighter after the Mayweather loss until his death? NO. It does not detract from Floyd's resume. Does it detract from Mayweather's legacy that after beating Marquez ... that Juan Manuel continued to defend his lightweight title and then moved up and fought Manny Pacquiao TWO MORE TIMES and solidified his Hall of Fame credentials by knocking Manny Pacquiao out cold? NO. It does not detract from Floyd's resume. Does it detract from Mayweather's resume that BOTH Miguel Cotto and Canelo Alvarez rebounded from their losses to Mayweather and moved up to middleweight and BOTH won the LINEAL middleweight title? NO. It does not detract from Floyd's resume. Hell, Oscar, Pacquiao, Hatton, Mosley, Marquez, Corrales, Castillo, Cotto and Canelo were all the best at their weights when Floyd fought them ... and Marquez, Corrales, Castillo, Cotto and Canelo ALL ARGUABLY had their greatest wins ... AFTER Floyd beat them. I wouldn't label someone as shot or past it ... when they hadn't even scored their best wins yet. Who had their best wins after Whitaker beat them? Who were all the "prime" names he beat who went on to bigger and better things? I guess I wasn't paying attention when Jorge Paez, Harold Brazier, Greg Haugen, Buddy McGirt and Jake Rodriquez all set the world on fire after losing to Pernell. Didn't Nelson go on to lose to Jesse James Leija repeatedly and to Gabe Ruelas and to Genaro Hernandez and never win a fight at lightweight? Wasn't Nelson a 500 fighter after the Whitaker bout ... losing as much as he won? How was he PRIME? Did Whitaker BEAT ANYONE who did anything after he defeated them ... compared to all those Mayweather opponent examples? :roll: This Whitaker argument has just about run its course. Frankly, I'm beginning to lose respect for people who would rate Whitaker higher than Mayweather for ANY reason after this. When comparing the two ... the balance of evidence is TILTED ALL THE WAY OVER in Mayweather's favor. His opposition, his achievements, his total success was much better. Good night.
Gatti was almost done after Mayweather though. He beat Daamgard and got his ass kicked by Baldo. The Ward fights were before May.
Ok, but the point remains though. The 4 ATG's that Mayweather fought (Pacquiao, Marquez, Mosley and DLH) were all notably past prime when Mayweather fought them.
This reminds me why I love boxing and the way I rank again. Rather than saying blah blah was prime but blah blah means more I just load up a video of Whitaker schooling Chavez, load up a video of Floyd schooling Pacquiao and make my mind up on who looks better. Then I struggle so I load up a video of Pea scooping Haugen and Floyd schooling Corrales and settle of Pea. Such better than stressing over resume.
