I can't remember seeing a better fighter than prime Floyd Mayweather Jr

[Beanflicker]

So you'd rank a guy because a trainer said he was good? The late, great Emmanuel Steward claimed that Sharmba Mitchell would beat Floyd Mayweather. Trainers, fighters, and other experts are wrong ALL the time, dude.

I think Floyd's last 5 were very respectable. Prime Ricky Hatton that Floyd beat was a GREAT fighter. Shane Mosley was a great fighter who was ranked top 2 at the time. I know you're going to get into how beating Ricky at 147 instead of 140 makes the win null and void for some crazy reason and I'm sure you'll dump on his win over Marquez for the same reason.

Who did Duran beat at 147 (besides SRL) to make that such a great win for Ray Leonard? He was a LW champ who moved up two weight classes and never really carried his power truely at that weight. If you're going to insinuate that beating Hatton at 147 is no big deal, you should be consistent and adknowledge that Duran was at his best as a LW.

[bzkfn]

Some good points in this thread. I have fast realised that I agree with Beanflicker on alot of things. Floyd is my #1 P4P of all time. I genuinely don't think anyone would have beaten the guy. I think when people look at the past and rank the greats they discount how much better you have to be physically than you did back in the day.

People will always criticize Floyd for his opposition but I think some of the arguments are completely invalid. The Hatton fight is one that people will always moan about. People complain about Hatton having to step up to 147 for the fight but if Hatton wanted to be the best guy in the sport, he'd have had to prove himself at more than one weightclass. Cortez was a dick in the fight but even if Cortez had not been a factor it wouldn't have made a difference. Up close Hatton couldn't make a dent in Floyd and after the 6th round Hatton started to take a beating. Hatton is my favourite fighter of all time and I'd have loved him to have won but Floyd's class told.

[Rantcatrat]

So you'd rank a guy because a trainer said he was good? The late, great Emmanuel Steward claimed that Sharmba Mitchell would beat Floyd Mayweather. Trainers, fighters, and other experts are wrong ALL the time, dude.

I think Floyd's last 5 were very respectable. Prime Ricky Hatton that Floyd beat was a GREAT fighter. Shane Mosley was a great fighter who was ranked top 2 at the time. I know you're going to get into how beating Ricky at 147 instead of 140 makes the win null and void for some crazy reason and I'm sure you'll dump on his win over Marquez for the same reason.

Who did Duran beat at 147 (besides SRL) to make that such a great win for Ray Leonard? He was a LW champ who moved up two weight classes and never really carried his power truely at that weight. If you're going to insinuate that beating Hatton at 147 is no big deal, you should be consistent and adknowledge that Duran was at his best as a LW.

There isn't one Roberto Duran-level fighter on Floyd's resume. Not one. In my humble opinion, the best win of Floyd's career might be semi-retired Oscar. Shane Mosley was old and not a great fighter to begin with. Ricky Hatton, Shane Mosley, Corrales, Castillo were GOOD fighters, just not great ones. You're misinterpreting me. I'm NOT anti-Floyd by any means. I'm a fan. Of all the guys we watch today, he has mastered the science that is boxing as much as anyone has. It's just we don't, and can't, know how he would compare because he hasn't faced any great fighter. When I mean great, I mean top 50-100 fighters. Same goes for Calzaghe, to a lesser extent. He was great, but to say he could beat Archie Moore is retarded. Moore just experienced so much more than Calzaghe, even if Calzaghe was slicker, faster than Moore. Do you follow what I'm saying? It's not a dig on Floyd. Think about it, all great fighters have at last ONE defining win; the best have a handful. What was Floyd's?

[IamInuit]

Its incredible to me that Chico is viewed as Floyds shining moment. A man that was about to do hard time for an assault charge and who came into the ring headless. Floyd could have least fought Freitas.
Him and Shane could have met at the 130/35 area and each blames each other but the fact remains it did not happen. Manny/Floyd folded for 50 mil a piece. Leonard and Duran fought twice in 6 months.

[Spicoli]

No sane man can deny Mayweathers in the ring talent. His cup runneth over! Some call it preserving..he may take knocks for the backfoot being his default setting and he makes no bones about doing it his way and his way only, fans be damned. I can respect the skill level but equally dislike the approach and overall execution and-or mindset for the most part. I honestly do think he will look back and wish he had pushed the throttle harder in career, fully maximized that depth and yes..yes crossed off names of seemingly viable threats. After Hatton...I just will never ever understand how a ring master simply goes home and is content to kick up his feet for two years and literally watch his peaked momentum run dry?! He is one of the best I've ever seen but he gets a lead and rides it and he almost struck me as playing catch up when he came back chasing the p4p sausage fest.

[CutMeMick]

Here are some fighters whom I think were better in their prime than Floyd...

Ali
Hagler
Jofre
Pernell
Lopez


I think if Floyd can add a few of these names to his resume before he retires with time he will receive the recognition he yearns for: Martinez, Bradley, Alvarez & Guerrero.
I would like to see him give 160 a go it would be great.

I think in the futur Floyd will settle in amongst the greats. Where exactly still remains to be seen.

[zhubin]

Its incredible to me that Chico is viewed as Floyds shining moment. A man that was about to do hard time for an assault charge and who came into the ring headless. Floyd could have least fought Freitas.
Him and Shane could have met at the 130/35 area and each blames each other but the fact remains it did not happen. Manny/Floyd folded for 50 mil a piece. Leonard and Duran fought twice in 6 months.

There is no way to know how much Chico's impending jail time had an effect on his performance. But the fact is Diego was one of the very best and most feared fighters in the business at the time...and Floyd put on a masterclass against him. He deserves mad props for that.

[TitoFan]

Its incredible to me that Chico is viewed as Floyds shining moment. A man that was about to do hard time for an assault charge and who came into the ring headless. Floyd could have least fought Freitas.
Him and Shane could have met at the 130/35 area and each blames each other but the fact remains it did not happen. Manny/Floyd folded for 50 mil a piece. Leonard and Duran fought twice in 6 months.

There is no way to know how much Chico's impending jail time had an effect on his performance. But the fact is Diego was one of the very best and most feared fighters in the business at the time...and Floyd put on a masterclass against him. He deserves mad props for that.

I'd have to agree with this. Think hard enough, and you can find a chink in any boxer's armor. Corrales was an awesome fighter and extremely tough opponent. I saw his fight with Floyd and it was a masterful performance by PBF.

[0james0]

When I said Floyd was possibly the best I've seen, I meant from my era of boxing, not all time. I think that us what the OP meant too.

Was he better than the all time greats? We'll never really know. Even if he wasn't actually better than them in skills, strength and speed, you still wouldn't be surprised if he actually won the imaginary dream fights, the guy just wins fights, his adaptability is one of his biggest strengths.

[Beanflicker]

When I said Floyd was possibly the best I've seen, I meant from my era of boxing, not all time. I think that us what the OP meant too.

Nope, I'm going all in. I say Floyd Mayweather was a better overall boxing talent than Ray Robinson.

[Beanz]

When I said Floyd was possibly the best I've seen, I meant from my era of boxing, not all time. I think that us what the OP meant too.

Nope, I'm going all in. I say Floyd Mayweather was a better overall boxing talent than Ray Robinson.

You are more than entitled to your opinion. Robinson in my own humble opinion is in another league than Floyd as are many others.

[imp]

Lets hope floyd has alot more fights left in him and retires 50-0.

[Rantcatrat]

Lets hope floyd has alot more fights left in him and retires 50-0.

Absolutely. I hope Floyd takes on the best competition from the welterweight, junior middleweight and middleweight divisions. It would be great to witness.

[Beanflicker]

Leonard and Duran fought twice in 6 months.

Right, and in the first fight one of them got beat by a guy coming up from 2 weight divisions down who never really established himself at WW, and in the second fight one of them quit because he was getting dominated and his tummy hurt.

I love both guys but lets stop holding them up like they were perfect examples of the pugilist. They all had their flaws.

[Spicoli]

Its incredible to me that Chico is viewed as Floyds shining moment. A man that was about to do hard time for an assault charge and who came into the ring headless. Floyd could have least fought Freitas.
Him and Shane could have met at the 130/35 area and each blames each other but the fact remains it did not happen. Manny/Floyd folded for 50 mil a piece. Leonard and Duran fought twice in 6 months.

Personally I think it's as much the manner in which he absolutely battered Corrales as much as Diegos threat and obvious ability. Corrales had just had a run of solid smack downs over solid fighters in Garcia, Manfredy and Gainer (ugh). He didn't just beat them, he left them limp. Mayweather fought on all cylinders that night and knew Corrales was very live and jumped him and destroyed him. Fans like destruction and looking back Floyd rarely showed that form again. It stuck.