Love him or hate him, Floyd Mayweather Jr. deserves his props as a great fighter. He’s a five division world champion, starting his career at 130 and eventually dominating at 147, which probably isn’t even his best weight. Mayweather has won 47 straight fights over an 18 year career and has defeated numerous quality opponents, most in convincing fashion. He is, arguably, the finest defensive fighter I’ve ever seen. Floyd has stood the test of time and earned his place among boxing’s all-time greatest. He’s probably the finest fighter in boxing over the past 20 years.
All that said, Mayweather, his handlers, and his fans lose me when they start claiming he is the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) and TBE (The Best Ever). This is where my support ends. If he is the greatest fighter ever, that would mean he’s earned this honor over the likes of:
-Sugar Ray Leonard: Mastered the quartet of Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns, Roberto Duran, and Wilfred Benitez. KO’d a much bigger Donny Lalonde at 175.
-Muhammad Ali: The king of an outstanding Heavyweight era lasting from the early/mid-60’s to the late 70’s; A three time undisputed Heavyweight Champion who bested the fearsome trio of Sonny Liston, George Foreman, and Joe Frazier (among numerous others)
-Roberto Duran: Undisputed Lightweight champion for nearly 7 years; defeated a prime Sugar Ray Leonard in 1980; At one point, had a professional record of 71-1; Gave all-time great Middleweight champion Marvin Hagler a tough fight in 1983 and remained competitive well into his 40’s.
-Sugar Ray Robinson: All he did was achieve a professional record of 128-1-2 (84 Kos) over the first 11 years of his career. Robinson was unbeatable at Welterweight and went on to win the Middleweight championship 5 times. I won’t even bother with the prolific list of hall of famers he bested throughout the course of his career.
-Henry Armstrong: A three division champion when that actually meant something; Held the Featherweight, Lightweight, and Welterweight Championship at the same time; Armstrong defended the Welterweight championship 19 times.
-Willie Pep: Pep was only 134-1-1 over the first 9 years of his career. Not too impressive, right? He’s only [arguably] the greatest Featherweight who ever lived.
-Joe Louis: All he did was rule the Heavyweight division for 12 years with an iron fist, defending an unprecedented 25 times and retiring with only one loss in 59 fights. And yes, I know he came back and lost twice after that.
-Harry Greb: Nearly 300 fights; 261 wins; Greb defeated a murders row of all-time great 160 and 175 pounders including: Gene Tunney, Tommy Loughran, Maxie Rosenbloom, Tommy Gibbons, Kid Norfolk, Billy Miske, and Battling Levinsky among others.
-Mickey Walker: All-time great at Welterweight and Middleweight and held his own against Light Heavyweights and Heavyweights, defeating the likes of Mike Mctigue, Paul Berlenbach, Maxie Rosenbloom, and even drawing against former Heavyweight Champion Jack Sharkey.
Sorry to Mayweather and his fans but when I compare his resume to the above fighters, not to mention those I’m sure I’ve missed, it doesn’t compare. For all of his accomplishments, Mayweather has never defeated another great fighter who was in the prime of his career (and please don’t give me Diego Corrales as an answer). Delahoya and Mosley were past their prime; Marquez and Guerrero were much smaller fighters; Cotto, yes, he’s likely a hall of famer but not in the class that the fighters above faced and defeated. I have all the respect in the world for Floyd Mayweather and he is an all-time great. But to say that he’s the greatest fighter of all-time is pure folly.
All that said, Mayweather, his handlers, and his fans lose me when they start claiming he is the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) and TBE (The Best Ever). This is where my support ends. If he is the greatest fighter ever, that would mean he’s earned this honor over the likes of:
-Sugar Ray Leonard: Mastered the quartet of Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns, Roberto Duran, and Wilfred Benitez. KO’d a much bigger Donny Lalonde at 175.
-Muhammad Ali: The king of an outstanding Heavyweight era lasting from the early/mid-60’s to the late 70’s; A three time undisputed Heavyweight Champion who bested the fearsome trio of Sonny Liston, George Foreman, and Joe Frazier (among numerous others)
-Roberto Duran: Undisputed Lightweight champion for nearly 7 years; defeated a prime Sugar Ray Leonard in 1980; At one point, had a professional record of 71-1; Gave all-time great Middleweight champion Marvin Hagler a tough fight in 1983 and remained competitive well into his 40’s.
-Sugar Ray Robinson: All he did was achieve a professional record of 128-1-2 (84 Kos) over the first 11 years of his career. Robinson was unbeatable at Welterweight and went on to win the Middleweight championship 5 times. I won’t even bother with the prolific list of hall of famers he bested throughout the course of his career.
-Henry Armstrong: A three division champion when that actually meant something; Held the Featherweight, Lightweight, and Welterweight Championship at the same time; Armstrong defended the Welterweight championship 19 times.
-Willie Pep: Pep was only 134-1-1 over the first 9 years of his career. Not too impressive, right? He’s only [arguably] the greatest Featherweight who ever lived.
-Joe Louis: All he did was rule the Heavyweight division for 12 years with an iron fist, defending an unprecedented 25 times and retiring with only one loss in 59 fights. And yes, I know he came back and lost twice after that.
-Harry Greb: Nearly 300 fights; 261 wins; Greb defeated a murders row of all-time great 160 and 175 pounders including: Gene Tunney, Tommy Loughran, Maxie Rosenbloom, Tommy Gibbons, Kid Norfolk, Billy Miske, and Battling Levinsky among others.
-Mickey Walker: All-time great at Welterweight and Middleweight and held his own against Light Heavyweights and Heavyweights, defeating the likes of Mike Mctigue, Paul Berlenbach, Maxie Rosenbloom, and even drawing against former Heavyweight Champion Jack Sharkey.
Sorry to Mayweather and his fans but when I compare his resume to the above fighters, not to mention those I’m sure I’ve missed, it doesn’t compare. For all of his accomplishments, Mayweather has never defeated another great fighter who was in the prime of his career (and please don’t give me Diego Corrales as an answer). Delahoya and Mosley were past their prime; Marquez and Guerrero were much smaller fighters; Cotto, yes, he’s likely a hall of famer but not in the class that the fighters above faced and defeated. I have all the respect in the world for Floyd Mayweather and he is an all-time great. But to say that he’s the greatest fighter of all-time is pure folly.