To those who think Floyd is great.

disagree...fighters are rarely "great" during their lifetime. he couldve stayed at 130 and beaten "great" fighters like morales, barrera, and pac, but it was a much bigger challenge to scale 5 weight divisions and still dominate.

 

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He's never defeated an ATG fighter in their prime and that wont change with Hatton, since Hatton isn't one of the greats.

I don't rank Floyd as high as some do, but he's racked up enough very solid wins and collected enough titles in 5 weight classes to ensure a place in the top 50-100 and a spot in the HOF. If he beats Hatton, Williams, and Cotto, he becomes a top 20 fighter all time.

Look at Ricardo Lopez - never faced an ATG, but is still considered one. At least Floyd has faced an ATG (in my opinion), so he should be considered a definite one with everything else factored in.

 

no doubt this is a test,i think this will be floyds hardest fight resulting in his 1st loss,but his win over chico was impressive as **** regardless of the circumstances.

 

He has faced 4 potential hall of famers...
Jose Luis Castillo
Genaro Hernandez
Diego Corrales
Oscar De La Hoya

Former world champions
Zab Judah
Sharmba Mitchell
Carlos Baldomir
DeMarcus Corley
Gregorio Vargas
Arturo Gatti
Jesus Chavez
Carlos Hernandez

Contenders
Victoriano Sosa
Phillip N'dou
Emanuel Augustus
Angel Manfredy
Carlos Gerena
Justin Juuko

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That's not exactly a Muhammad Ali-esque resume, but I think its more than enough to consider him great seeing how he beat some of them.

 

too close to call? raheem domianted morales and mayweahter couldnt? jones dominated barrera and mayweather couldnt? morales outboxed pac and mayweather wouldnt? Mayweather wouldve domianted all of those guys.

he couldve pulled a hopkins, stayed at 130 forever and beat up on great fighters moving up. Going up 5 weight classes is the much greater challenge.

 

I recently wrote something very similiar to what I will say in this post over in the classic forum.

One of the difficulties in assesing Floyd's status as an ATG lies in what he has not done and not had to do. I'll give some examples. Keep in mind, I'm just giving examples.

At 130 there was no Alexis Arguello on the scene. Trust me, El Flaco Explosivo at 130 would not quit on his stool like Hernandez did.

At 135 there was no Duran or Arguello. I think Duran owns Floyd at 135, and Alexis would be a live underdog.

At 140 there was no Aaron Pryor who I thnk would have presented Floyd with the longest nightmare of his life.

At 147 there was no Hearns, Robinson, SRL, Duran, et.

One can easily draw up a list of ATG's from the divisions PBF has fought in who were superior to anyone Floyd has faced. It's tough to really assess Mayweather fairly when he hasn't had to face the caliber of opponents that others have fought between 130-154. Baldomir ain't no Sugar Ray, and a 34 year old DeLahoya isn't in the same universe with a prime Tommy Hearns, et. Moreover, Floyd as never unified the titles in any division, nor has he stayed in any division and cleaned it out. He has jumped from weight to weight collecting titles, and considering modern boxings alphabet soup of so called world champions that doesn't mean a hell of a lot. Floyd may be the best pure boxer around right now, but his status as an all time great FIGHTER is still very much up in the air. Defeating Hatton, Williams, and Cotto might change that, but I seriously doubt if he will ever get in the ring with Williams or Cotto.

Boo

 

This. :deal

 

If the only way to become great was to beat someone great then there would be no greats, domination of good opponents, longevity and performances that are blatantly great are also factors in the establishment of greatness.

 

His actual opponents aren't great

What is more impressive is winning at 5 different weights

Hatton will be his first loss

 

who's out there great for him to fight right now...cotto and williams are good but far from great