Whitaker or Mayweather - who was greater?

If a person criticizes something Mayweather did, it shows bias if that criticism applies to Mayweather and no other boxer in history.

Your point it that it wasn’t a big deal that he beat Marquez. Marquez, while past prime and fighting at 147, knocked out the the pfp number 1 (Pacquiao). If Marquez could knock out the pfp number 1 at 147, then Mayweather’s win must have had significance.

If not, there must be some other instances in boxing of a fighter taking a loss at a certain weight that can be written off due to size disparity and then going back to that weight and beating the pfp number 1.

 

you COMPLETELY missed my point. As this has NOTHING to do with the price of rice … as this is way after the time in question .. JMM was a SFW, then had only 2 fights at LW, then moves up 2 classes to face Floyd, who had already been fighting there for 4 YEARS .. JMM goes back down and does not weigh 142 again for over another 2 years !! If anybody thinks that JMM was somehow a live underdog in this. Then they don't understand what a Mismatch this really was

 

Mayweather. Just.

Bothers me just a little that I see it that way as Pernell is one of my all-time favourites, Mayweather less so. Partly self-inflicted by Whitaker as I feel he underachieved from around 1995 onwards, due to a combination of factors: losing Benton from his corner that year; the King-Duva (or Showtime-HBO) feud and Main Events' mishandling of Quartey meaning there were no unification fights at 147 as there'd been at 135; and worst of all Pea losing his battle against the white stuff and going off his rocker with his form suffering as a result. He trimmed his attacking arsenal down quite a bit and never really recaptured that old magic from that point onwards.

I think it's probably fair to say that Whitaker's very, very best wins, namely Chavez (scored a 'draw', but let's not split hairs) and Nelson, are more eye-catching than anything on Mayweather's record if we accept that Pacquiao was on an irreversible downward slope by 2015, and that Whitaker perhaps proved his defensive wizardry credentials against a marginally better class of attacking fighter. But underneath that I think Mayweather's record has the greater depth, much superior longevity and a less appreciable decline in the overall quality of his performances as he moved through the weights (Pea was a phenomenal Lightweight, but only serviceable in comparison to those dizzying standards as a Welter). I'd have a hard time calling a fight between them at 135, and gun to my head might just edge towards Whitaker...But at 147 I'd have no hesitation in going with Floyd.

I had Whitaker higher until about 2012-13, but Mayweather's exemplary performance against Alvarez triggered a re-evaluation and I couldn't find enough reasons to keep him behind Pernell after that, considering that he did it at an age when Pea was long since finished as a genuine pound for pounder and also in light of what Alvarez has done since. Both would make my top 15 but I'd have Mayweather two or three spots ahead. But it's close and wouldn't really argue too much with anyone who saw it the other way.

 

Marquez was given a chance going into the Mayweather fight, but we now know he was hopeless. If he were fighting the pfp number 1 in the sport at 147 (Pacquiao), he would’ve been a live underdog. You can’t diminish Mayweather for being better than Marquez in every way. It’s more than a weight disadvantage there.

 

Mayweather’s win over Pacquaio>Pernell’s win over Nelson. Pac was the pfp best behind Mayweather and Nelson never did anything at 135.

 

and I agree with this! I am not diminishing May! I know he is better than Marquez which only strengthens my point as this being a complete mismatch!! For me, like you said, I already knew he was hopeless. I did the math before the fight and saw who he was fighting

 

Top 15 is overrating both of them.

 

You’d think that all of this is self evident but apparently it’s not

 

No way in hell was that farce of a fight a better win than Whittaker's win over Nelson. Mayweather-Pacquiao was a total joke.

 

You’re just salty because Mayweather won.

Name another pfp 1 vs. pfp 2 fight that didn’t matter, otherwise you just sound cranky and irrelevant .

 

I am not "Salty" because Mayweather won. There was never any question among knowledgeable boxing fans who was going to win that fight by that point of their careers. I just prefer boxing matches in which the participants are actively throwing hard punches at each other. Fights in which there is a chess match to implement one's strategy. Fights in which the combatants dig deep and demonstrate heart, conditioning, and will. Neither combatant in Maywaether-Pacquiao showed any of that. Pacquiao was a shell of his former self, and threw almost no meaningful punches. And against a lame duck fighter, Mayweather still only averaged about 12 landed punches per round. It was nothing more than a slow-paced, glorified sparring session. But, anybody with common sense knew that before the first bell ever rang. it was a spectacle, not a fight. A total farce for the clueless casual fans.

And, to answer your second statement, Mayweather-Pacquio was very similar to Lennox Lewis vs Tyson. A huge spectacle between 2 legendary names. But a spectacle in which one combatant (Tyson) wasn't even 25% of his former self.

 

Agreed.. and thanks for the recap!! lol .. I never saw it or cared to pay for it for the reasons you posted

 

Tyson was pfp 2 behind Lewis? Didn’t know that.

 

Is that a poll? You know what a poll is? Castillo beat Mayweather straight up. That's why they had a rematch.

 

Superb post.