Some of you may dismiss this article right away and call me a “hater”, which has become all to common. That’s fine I don’t mind being called anything. The whole purpose of this piece is to simply put Floyd Mayweather and his loyal fans on point. The greatest boxer ever is not Floyd nor is it Muhammad Ali. The greatest boxer ever is Sugar Ray Robinson period end of story. The man was 85–0 as an amateur with 69 of those by KO. As a professional he was 173-19-6 with 108 KO’s. He was only knocked out 1 time in 285 fights, amateurs included, there can never be a boxer or fighter of any kind to better what Sugar Ray Robinson accomplished. The man once fought 20 times in a single year, 1941. It was his job and he loved it. Floyd Mayweather loves everything boxing has provided him but he doesn’t love being a boxer.
I believe Floyd is a great fighter but do NOT buy into his sales job of him being the greatest. He has cherry picked opponents, paid off guys to fight heavy, Juan Manuel Marquez, waited until guys were past their primes, Mosley, fought guys not quite there, Canelo Alvarez, and fought guys who posed ZERO threat and had ZERO chance of winning, Guerrero and Ortiz.
Floyd’s career was on track for him to become on the short list for best boxer ever but because of the aforementioned fights and tactics it is safe to assume he will be remembered as a great boxer but nothing more. The argument can be made that he isn’t even the greatest boxer of his era. You could make a strong case for Bernard Hopkins, the ageless wonder, has fought the far better opposition and has been just as if not more impressive in doing so than Maywaether.
Floyd really made a turn in 2006 from “Pretty Boy Floyd” to what his is now “Money Mayweather” and that turn while financially was better the same can’t be said of his legacy. He and former promoter Bob Arum went through a messy split as boxer/promoter. Since then Floyd has never fought a Top Rank, Arum’s promotional company, fighter. Real convenient of him when the ENTIRE WORLD not just boxing heads like me wanted and clamored for a Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao fight. By the way, for a man who proclaims to love money so much he ultimately turned down the highest grossing boxing match ever by not making that fight. Mayweather claimed Pacquaio was on PED’s and insisted on Olympic style drug testing once Manny agreed to that Floyd once again did a song and dance through his various mouthpieces Leonard Ellerbe and Al Haymon. Eventually Floyd came out and said why the fight would not happen.
On December 20, 2013, the Telegraph reported that Mayweather said Pacquiao’s association with promoter Bob Arum is the reason why the bout will not happen. “We all know the Pacquiao fight, at this particular time, will never happen, and the reason why the fight won’t happen is because I will never do business with Bob Arum again in life, and Pacquiao is Bob Arum’s fighter,” Mayweather said.
Real convenient once again Mayweather has a nice insulated excuse. So while Mayweather will undoubtedly go in to retirement, for a second time, undefeated it does not mean he was the BEST EVER as he likes to proclaim to all who will listen.
Thanks For Reading