Do you think Floyd would have "hidden" at 135-140lbs had he fought in the 80s

Do you believe he would have avoided the prime (and big money) Welterweights of the 80s and remained in the Lightweight division........fighting the likes of Arguello, Pryor, Mancini, Bramble, etc.....

Back in those days, there wasn't much pressure or criticism by fans and media put on fighters to move up in weight to fight other top guys in other weight division, mainly because those respective divisions were stacked anyway with plenty of fights within their division. This alone may have kept Floyd at 135/140...or maybe not?

What's your take?

Yes. Floyd went AWOL for Casamjor/Freitas/Corrales because he had a slave contract and I think he would have done the same.

At welterweight he would never have ventured there.

Hard to know, in fairness nobody would have really called it hiding if he had.. Leonard and especially Hearns were just much bigger guys naturally, I think they would have both beaten him at welter. Duran and Benitez I wouldn't have picked over Floyd.

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Originally Posted by p4pking

Hard to know, in fairness nobody would have really called it hiding if he had.. Leonard and especially Hearns were just much bigger guys naturally, I think they would have both beaten him at welter. Duran and Benitez I wouldn't have picked over Floyd.

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I agree about Leonard and hearns... especially if Floyd had to go 15. I don't think you could call it hiding but it might have been just as bad. The sport and the fans at the time definitely wouldn't have put up with the boxing is a business crap or the negotiating style of Floyd in trying to make stipulations (rehydrations, gloves, announcements, drug tests). So I think he might have been a shrinking violet compared to the confident major @$$ he's been in the current era.

I am by no means a Floyd apologist/hugger, but I have a slightly different view than most. In my opinion, Floyd was willing to push himself and sought out the biggest challengers until later in his career. The Castillo fight affected Floyd to a degree, but he continued to seek the biggest fights and turn himself into the PPV cash cow.

Once Floyd beat Hatton, I noticed a slight change in Floyd, where he was content to let many of the big challengers beat each other for the right to fight Floyd. That isn't a bad strategy for longevity and career money, but it did cause him to miss some of the bigger names of his generation. That being said, I don't think Floyd ducked or was scared of anyone, he just made sure to be a good businessman and fighting individuals for the most reward with minimal risk.

Now, to answer the main question: Would Floyd fight Leonard/Hearns? I would say that he likely would not, UNLESS, that was the ONLY way for him to become the cash cow and make the money he always felt me was worth/demanded. Floyd may be uneducated, but he is an extremely smart man when it comes to fighting/boxing, and I feel that he would procrastinate as long as possible with the hopes of avoiding Hearns/Leonard, knowing that he would likely lose to both. I have doubts that Floyd would beat Pryor at 140, so the push for the Leonard/Hearns fight would likely never be very strong.

I'm a reformed hater and am still bothered by some things but I think he's held to a different standard then most? Why? Not sure but he's accomplished more them most ever have or will in the sport and still people raise the bar. Everyone talked prior to his retirement about his retirement as he inched to 40 years old. We all talk about boxers who go on to long and never leave at the top. Floyd does it at close to 40 and all people talk about is who he will fight for the comeback. Theses same announcers that routinely tell us who is shot and fought or still fight to long ask him that like a broken record.


The Hatton is one of the aspects of Floyds career that I will always have problems with. Cortez ruined the fight and actually won it for Floyd. By the time Hatton kissed the turnbuckle he was no longer in the fight. Spirit broken and taken completely out of it my Cortez's meddling. When some of Floyd's super fans over the years have responded with rebuttals like “well it didn’t make a difference because he was knocked out”, I almost come out of my skin. My contention has always been and remains that if not for the hack job we would have never seen that ending. You simply cant have one w/o the other.

Floyd and Shane should have fought. The blame game is anyone’s guess but as a fan they should have fought in that 135/140 area. As @Master points out, he could have fought Casamayor also. Still we could say the same for most ATG's. Most side stepped somebody if not more then one. Floyd was as good an opportunist outside the ring as he was inside it. His timing was impeccable. Safety first all the way. He did the fight with Chico knowing all the details of what was happening in his private life. He always seemed to need an advantage. Waiting guys out until they are vulnerable, having a home ref and never leaving home for a fight. It makes little difference to me if he was a cash cow or not. We are talking about risk and challenges not economics. Him making more cash than anyone ever does not address the subject matter of this thread. Yet it does right? He probably made 30 million fighting Guerrero.

I don’t see him being able to escape fighting the 147 guys had he moved up in weight at the same pace he did in this time in the 80's. The reason people didn’t concentrate on hiding out and stuff then is because nobody really did over that decade. People fought each other and wanted to. If the same Floyd existed then he would have had to have fought them or retied as a footnote. There would be no 5 year waiting period over silly tests. He'd be dismissed outright. Juice was not really an issue in the 80's be it ignorance or whatever. Honestly, I dont see Floyd making it out of that div as a superstar in the 80's if they were all peaking at the same time. Shit Floyd in all honesty might not beat some of their opponents. Conversely Hearns, Leonard, Benitez and Duran would cruise through his era.