Originally Posted by
Beanflicker
In the end, people can judge p4p, atg, ect with whatever criteria they want. If certain people want to believe that Floyd is a scrub, or that he's simply a "good" fighter who cherry picked his way to an undefeated (as of now, anyway) career, that's their prerogative. In the end, I think you really have to look at how dominant the athlete was and whether or not they were fighting world class opposition, and you have to look at the in-ring ability.
Floyd's record (46-0) in itself isn't impressive. There have been many others who have gone 40 plus - 0. JCC Jr was 46-0 before he lost to Martinez. His dad went to 89-0. Spadafora was 48-0. Valuev was 46-0. Sven Ottke retired at 36-0. Greatness is more than having a pretty record (and that goes for the old timers who have over 200 wins).
But for a guy to go 16 years of fighting at the world class level - which is all champions and top 10 contenders - without slipping once is incredible. And it's not like a Sven Ottke thing where he fought nobodies in virtually all his fights. People talk about Floyd's path like it was safe and he was never in any danger, which is ridiculous, because just think of how many guys in boxing history have been upset by guys who, in hindsight, didn't even belong in the ring with them. Sugar Ray Robinson ran into a bunch of guys that either beat him or gave him the fight of his life. Guys who will show up nobodies top 10, 20, 30, 50 or even 100. Guys like Basora and Brimm. It's always dangerous to be the #1 guy with a target on his back and fighting top ranked guys.
What makes a fighter? Skill, athleticism, heart, boxing IQ, discipline, determination, versatility, ability to absorb punishment, ect.
If you really think about it, how many guys can you name who showed all of these things simultaneously, at an elite level?
There are tons of guys with fantastic athleticism, but they never had the skill to go with it. There are guys who had great skill, but no athleticism to go with it. There are guys who had it all except discipline, and would under train, take guys lightly, and/or eat themselves up into weight classes they had no business fighting in.
You've had insanely talented guys (Zab Judah) who were mental midgets and lacked the discipline to stick to a game plan and the determination to find a way to win. There were guys who had it all, but unfortunately didn't have the god-given ability to take a punch. A lot of guys were great, but were one dimensional and lacked the versatility needed to adapt when they came up to someone who their style didn't work against. Some guys couldn't bust a grape with a punch.
When you really look at it, the guy's who had it all - world class athleticism, skill, boxing IQ, discipline, heart, durability, ect - it's a very short list. You're talking guys like Ray Robinson, Ray Leonard, Ali, ect. And you're talking Floyd Mayweather. These guys were all special athletes in the sport and they all had their haters in their time. These kinds of fighters don't come around very often so you have to appreciate them while they're here.