The dude who has been doing it the longest, who has beaten more champs, who is still currently undefeated, who still looks virtually unbeatable. Why, who do you think?
Mayweather, lets forget Floyd has been on top for 16 years. Just look at their last opponents Ward fought Dawson who came down from 175lbs to 168lbs. Floyd went up to 154lbs (and only weighed 151lbs) and beat Cotto and added his title to his 147lbs title. Ward is great but Floyd is greater.
pretty much this. I do not put as much weight on the history of a fighter (rather what have you done for me lately).
Did you think Floyd Mayweather Jr looked "virtually unbeatable" in his last outting? I don't think he did. Also, I think with these discussions we're better served to compare their recent opposition. In the last 3-4 years, Ward has utterly dominated Carl Froch, Chad Dawson, Arthur Abraham, and Mikkel Kessler. Floyd, on the other hand, has seen off the likes of Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, Victor Ortiz, and Juan Manuel Marquez. Personally, I think Ward's list of names are marginally more impressive. I never rated Ortiz particuarly highly, and both Cotto and Mosley had seen better days when Floyd fought them. We all know the circumstances leading up to JMM fight. That being said, even though I think Ward's recent work has been more significant, Floyd has obviously displayed a better level of longevity and has never been defeated. I think we'd be doing him a disservice if we knocked him off the top spot despite still fighting a good level of opposition and not really coming close to losing. At this point it remains Floyd, but Ward is right behind him.
When you are fighting outside of your weight class I think you are likely to look a little vulnerable but against Cotto he never looked like he was going to lose. Also what do you think the fight would have looked like if Cotto had to come back down to 147lbs? It would have been ugly! Plus Wards last 4 opponents were actually, Dawson (who dropped down in weight) Froch, Arthur Abraham (is he really that good?) and Bika (again is he any good?) I think Floyds last four opponents are greater, Cotto, Moseley, Ortiz and JMM. 3 out of the 4 are ATG's imho. This is without considering Mayweather started at 130 and has risen to 154.
Floyd. He's very inactive but he's doing just enough to keep his hold at the top. he's very fortunate that his mandatory happens to be ring ranked #3 in the division and is someone he'll beat with no difficulty what so ever. also the fight that everyone wants to see is now him vs canelo (especially if canelo beats trout) should be a huge money fight and if he wins that he's unified the lmw division. I would like him to fight Alexander and Bradley if he stays in the WW division but my preference is him ot move up. either way he seems to have the names around him to keep his place at the top providing he doesn't get defeated.
Right now Andre Ward is a better fighter pfp than Floyd. He's younger, the kingpin of a better division & has done more than Floyd in the last few years to remove Floyd from #1. Even by the true meaning of pfp, if they were the same size right now, Ward beats him. Too young, strong & tenacious for an aging Floyd. All time Floyd is the greater fighter. But not pfp right now.
Cotto is an ATG? No deal. Mosley was even very good when he fought Mayweather Jr? No deal. Again, we all know the circumstances surrounding the JMM fight. I favour Ward's opposition, honestly.
over the last 3-4 years the clear edge is to PBF. Froch is way overrated, Dawson had to drop down, AA is absolutely a nobody at SMW (and got his ass whipped by everyone in the S6). Kessler is a solid win. (ATG) SSM came off one of his biggest wins (even though he got old quickly when he got into the ring with FLoyd), Ortrees huge win over highly ranked Berto, Cotto just bet his Nemisis and arguably looked better than ever and JMM who some might argue deserves to be 4 and 0 against Pac. even with the super 6 PBF opposition was ranked higher at the time of their fights
I love how you put "ATG" in brackets like it means dick. Dude, Mosley hadn't fought in nearly a year since beating the painfully average Antonio Margarito. Do you remember the Mayorga fight before that? Mosley looked done. I have as much respect for Mosley as the next guy. He's been around a long time and has fought the who's who of the last 15 years in the sport, but by 2010 he was easier to beat at 147lbs than Abraham was at 168lbs. It's a decent win at best, ATG or not. You thought Cotto looked better than ever in beating Antonio Margarito who had just come off back-to-back bludgeonings at the hands of Pacquao and Mosley? C'mon dude. I haven't even mentioned the lay off. I suggest you set your mind back a few years to the performances against Shane Mosley, Carlos Quintana, etc. to see what a prime Miguel Cotto looked like. Good win. JMM was a little boy in the ring next to Floyd, who couldn't be arsed to subscribe to the agreed weight restrictions. That said, JMM has later gone on to prove his credibility as a 147lbs fighter. Still, with all of the circumstances leading up to the fight and the shape in which JMM entered the ring, ...It all amounts to nothing more than a good win, ATG or not. Victor Ortiz is a tree bro. An average fighter at his best who's Mount Everest was beating Berto. Berto? Who has Berto beat? ...Decent win, tree or not.
We could go back and fourth dissecting both op. AA was a very good MW and was quickly proven to be a nobody at 168. I would rank JMM (who was top ten p4p and a ATG) win (which was a boxing match not a bigger guy bullying a smaller guy around). JMM win >>>>> AA win. Cotto was rank number 1 at JMW and rank in the top ten p4p when they met. Dawson was ranked top ten P4P and ranked #1 at LHW but they fought at 168. Because PBF fought at 154 Cotto win > Dawson. SSM was ranked 2 -3 at WW and looked like a monster destroying Margo (not to mention Pac refused to fight him at the time). Froch lost to Kessler and Arguable to Dirrell and beat AA (who turned out to be a lot worse at SMW than Margo was at 147 or 154). SSM was a much better win at the time than Froch (even though it was the final of s6). SSM > Froch (all time SMM>>>>>>>>>>Frochx5). I will give you Kessler >>>> over Ortrees . . . not to say that people where not saying he had a shot at beating him (because he was a young hungry lion). Overall, both guys records are solid but I give the edge to PBF. Ward is the heir apparent but i still give the edge to floyd. I personally do not weigh record that heavily when accessing p4p .
