Your top all-time greatest boxing cherrypickers

Who do you feel are the fighters who have gone most out of their way to avoid real, sustained competition and who give the paying fans the least bang for our buck?

All fighters eventually have their "can" opponents, but who do you think went the most out of their way to fight outmatched, over-the-hill, no-hoper opponents throughout their careers?

Here are 3 all-time great "cherrypicking" guys that immediately come to mind for me:

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: Jermain Taylor -- Old men and blown up Jr. Middles helped to fuel the HBO hype machine until people became so frustrated with Taylor's choice of opponents that he was essentially forced to take on a legitimate, youthful middleweight. His name was Kelly Pavlik, and you know the rest. Taylor, however, is not in the same league as my next two choices when it comes to handpicking foes.

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: Roy Jones, Jr -- No garbageman, cop or postman was safe from Roy's matchmaking. And HBO allowed Jones to get away with such folly. Did face Hopkins and Toney, but ducked names such as Benn, Eubank, Liles, Collins, Mclellan, Calzaghe and, perhaps most famously, Darius 'Tiger' Michalczewski.


And one of boxing's all-time greatest cherrypickers...

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: Floyd Mayweather -- At 135-, PBF was completely legit. At 140+, his was some of the most pathetic cherrypicking you will ever see. Every fight after his matchup with Corley (his first at 140) involved some level of farce, and PBF recently retired from the game prematurely rather than deal with chief nemesis Antonio Margarito or the talented Paul Williams.

Floyd used the tactic of biting off of established draws (Gatti, Hatton and ODLH) to hide his own lack of appeal to fight fans. Gatti was a no-hoper, DLH a washed-up promoter and Hatton was forced to fight at 147 after sucking hard at that same weight against Luis Collazo. Judah had just lost and the Baldomir fight against an aged and immobile fossil was so bad that Tiger Woods and Charles Barkley left before it was over and PBF cried at the post-fight press conference because he knew there was no escape from the dismal charade he had signed and participated in.

And don't forget a totally shot Sharmba Mitchell (who had been recently destroyed by the Floyd-ducked Kostya Tszyu) or outgunned Henry Bruseles.

A sad resume ending for a magnificent lightweight/jr. lightweight. Unlike fighters such as Joe Calzaghe who were fighting and beating rising threats such as Jeff Lacy and Mikkel Kessler near the end of their careers, Floyd consistently and unfortunately chose the path of least resistance when he went up to 140+. This cowardice culminated in his early retirement from boxing at the age of just 31.

At a time when most boxers are at the peak of their powers, PBF stepped away from the sport rather than take on Margarito and Williams (and, some would add, Miguel Cotto). It was a disappointing decision for fight fans around the globe, and one which helped solidify Floyd's status as one of the ring's best-ever cherrypickers. When faced with an opportunity to step up to the competition, Floyd demurred.

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Those are some of the guys I think of as big-time cherrypickers. Who makes your list?

 

I'm not as familiar with Erdei's and Neilson's whole careers, so I'll have to take your guys' word on those two.

:good

 

Something is missing here in the caption:

Ricky Hatton, 147 pound class, on his knees...

That's the point -- Floyd made him come up in weight for a reason, just as an all-time cherrypicker should.

Floyd earned his spot on my list, make no mistake.

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Scar -- You read the "old men" part of my Taylor statement, right?

Hopkins - 40
Wright - 34, and a blown up Jr. Middle. Around same age an 'old' Roy Jones was getting KTFO

The video you cite is a joke. It's a Roy marketing session by HBO designed to make the house fighter come off well. You don't think the house will give the house fighter some public relations cover when the masses are pissed that RJJ is fighting postmen?

Ha ha ha. If you really don't grasp how this works, I have a bridge to sell you.

Here's a negotiating/PR tip for you: If you don't want to get a fight done but you want to pretend you tried to get it done, you call up a guy and make a lowball offer. Happens all the time. That way, you can say you tried to make the fight but the other guy backed off. Classic cover your butt tactics.

Roy didn't want those fights made, with the guys I listed, and they didn't get made. But, hey -- bring on David Telesco! The public DEMANDS it! :rofl Any garbagemen looking to make some money off their morning shift? Roy's ducking of Michalczewski was one of the biggest farces for boxing in the 1990's.

Roy-Floyd -- Cherrypickers delight.