Nine-and-a-half years have transpired since Floyd Mayweather Jr. turned pro in October of 1996.

In that time, Mayweather -- who is widely recognized as the best boxer on the planet -- garnered Ring magazine's "Fighter of the Year" award in 1998, and won world titles in four divisions, defeating 10 current, former or future world title holders along the way.



Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images
Sharmba Mitchell is one of a number of fighters floored by the 36-0 Mayweather.
There are fans and members of the media who believe that Mayweather is one of the greatest fighters in the history of the sport based on his obvious superlative abilities in the ring and his impressive body of work thus far.

There are also those who believe that while the Grand Rapids, Mich., native is exceptionally skilled, much of his career above 130 pounds has been a farce. (I'm not one of them.) They'll tell you Mayweather did not deserve the nod over Jose Luis Castillo in their first fight, which gave him the WBC's 135-pound title, and that he barely gained recognition as "the man" at lightweight by narrowly outpointing the Mexican in the rematch. They'll tell you that he's merely a paper-title holder at 140 and 147 pounds. (I agree with that call.)

A third -- more moderate -- faction of fandom view Mayweather as a hall-of-fame lock who has the combination of talent and technique to have been competitive with past all-time greats in the 130- and 135-pound divisions. They acknowledge that he was very sharp and formidable at 140 pounds, and undersized but dangerous at 147 pounds, yet still largely unproven in the welterweight divisions. (Count me in with this bunch.)

This type of division in opinion is typical of boxing, a sport that combines subjectivity (in both bout scoring and fighter evaluation) with extreme passions and loyalty (often falling along cultural, ethnic, national and geographical lines, which can often lead to irrational points of view).

So who's right?

Mayweather's promoter, Bob Arum (who celebrates 40 years in the business this year), says the Pretty Boy is the most talented boxer he's seen since Muhammad Ali (the first fighter Arum promoted); better than Sugar Ray Leonard (whom he promoted in the '80s).

Arum doesn't even mention Thomas Hearns or Oscar De La Hoya (two multidivision champs he promoted to great success in the '80s and '90s), as though it's a given that Mayweather is the superior fighter. Is he? Perhaps in a pound-for-pound, head-to-head sense (which is as subjective as it gets, especially when comparing two fighters who occupied different weight classes at different time periods), but has Mayweather accomplished as much as the Hit Man and the Golden Boy did in their first 9½ years in the pro game?

Arum's a promoter and Mayweather is the star of his current stable, so we can forgive him for any hyperbole regarding the Pretty Boy, but should fans and the press be mentioning Mayweather's name with the all-time likes of Ali and Leonard?

Have Mayweather's accomplishments over the past 9½ years surpassed what other pound-for-pound kings of the past like Roy Jones, Bernard Hopkins, Felix Trinidad, Shane Mosley, De La Hoya, Pernell Whitaker and Julio Cesar Chavez accomplished in the same number of years?

There's only one way to find out, so it's to the record books we go!

In this little comparison analysis of mine, I take a look at the top opposition that the participants -- recent pound-for-pound kings and all-time greats -- took on in the first 9½ years of their careers. The opposition is split between "the elite" -- fighters who are either already in the Boxing Hall of Fame or appear to be a lock to get into Canastota eventually -- and "the strong", fighters who were either title holders or perennial contenders. (The records in parentheses are the fighters' ledgers at the time my subjects fought them.) I'll also factor in accomplishments such as titles won in separate divisions, title unifications and number of defenses.

Let's start with:

The man of the hour



Mayweather


Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Current Record: 36-0
The Elite: Genaro Hernandez (38-1-1), Diego Corrales (33-0), and Jose Luis Castillo (45-4-1)
The Strong: Zab Judah (34-3), Jesus Chavez (36-1), Arturo Gatti (39-6), Sharmba Mitchell (56-4), Carlos Hernandez (33-2-1), DeMarcus Corley (28-2-1), Goyo Vargas (41-5-1), and Angel Manfredy (25-2-1)
Analysis: Mayweather has earned a lot points for winning his first title (after only 17 pro bouts) vs. a respected champ such as Hernandez, whose only previous loss was to De La Hoya, and then defending the WBC 130-pound title eight times, which includes the likes of Manfredy and Vargas (both of whom were riding very good win streaks), "Famoso" Hernandez and Chavez (both of whom went on to win world titles) and Corrales. Mayweather absolutely dominated Hernandez (who had made 12 title defenses over two reigns) and Corrales (who had begun to crack some top 10 pound-for-pound lists when they fought). Castillo was not viewed as a top 10 pound-for-pound fighter when Mayweather fought him, but the Mexican national had gained respect as the best 135-pounder in the world by narrowly beating Steve Johnston for the WBC strap. Mayweather doesn't lose points for struggling with Castillo in their first fight (honestly, it should have been expected in only his second lightweight bout). Mayweather also gets points for dominating all of his "strong" opponents points, including Corley (there's a little extra credit for facing Chop Chop in his first bout at 140 pounds, but not as much as he would have earned had the former WBO belt holder not just come off a loss), Gatti and Judah (which earned him belts but not recognition as "the man" in either the 140- or 147-pound divisions). (More points are obviously given for Mayweather's "strong" opposition at 130 pounds than at 140 and 147, where he did what he should have done vs. aging and somewhat flawed opposition.)

Now let's look at some other fighters, starting with those whom Arum has compared to Mayweather in recent interviews:

Two great ones



Ali


Muhammad Ali
Record after 9½ years: 29-0
The Elite: Sonny Liston (35-1), Floyd Patterson (43-4), and Archie Moore (185-22-11)
The Strong: Ernie Terrell (38-4), Zora Folley (74-7-4), Doug Jones (21-3-1), Karl Mildenberger (49-2-3), George Chuvalo (34-11-2), Brian London (35-13), Cleveland Williams (65-5-1), and Henry Cooper (27-8-1/33-11-1)
Analysis: Because of his three-year exile from the sport over his religious and political differences with U.S. government's draft, the G.O.A.T can be evaluated over only 7½ years, but the 1960 Olympic gold medalist accomplished a lot during that time period. Apart from a tough 10-rounder with Jones (selected as Ring's "Fight of the Year" for '63) and a few scary seconds at the end of the fourth round vs. Cooper, Ali generally dominated his "strong" opponents (most notable are Terrell and Folley). However, most of his points come from his two dominant victories over Liston, who almost all of the press and many fight fans believed was unbeatable and would go on to be the most dominant heavyweight champ since Joe Louis. Ali doesn't get any extra points for blasting out the truly ancient Moore (last bout for the Old Mongoose) or for torturing the undersized Patterson (although the former two-time champ was still dangerous when they fought), but he does get extra points for defending the title nine times in less than 3½ years.



Leonard


Sugar Ray Leonard
Record after 9½ years: 33-1
The Elite: Roberto Duran (71-1), Wilfred Benitez (38-0-1) and Thomas Hearns (32-0)
The Strong: Ayub Kalule (36-0), Pete Ranzany (45-3-1), Randy Shields (31-4-1), Armando Muniz (4-13-1), Dave "Boy" Green (33-2), and Andy Price (27-5-3)
Analysis: Leonard did the bulk of his hall-of-fame work during a two-year stretch ('80 through '81) in only his fourth and fifth years as a pro. The '76 Olympic gold medalist gets major points for making Duran (regarded as the greatest lightweight ever, and a terror at 147 pounds) quit just months after losing a close 15-round decision to "Manos de Piedra", and for scoring late stoppages of defensive wizard Benitez and offensive nightmare Hearns. It really doesn't get any higher than those victories which solidified his claim as "the man" at 147 pounds, but Sugar Ray gets added points for winning a 154-pound title vs. the undefeated and difficult Kalule and for generally dominating everyone he fought up until he fought for his first title (Benitez).


Recent pound-for-pound kings



Hopkins


Bernard Hopkins
Record after 9½ years: 33-2-1
The Elite: Roy Jones (21-0)
The Strong: Glen Johnson (32-0), John David Jackson (35-2), Simon Brown (47-6), Lupe Aquino (46-6), and Segundo Mercado (18-2) and Joe Lipsey (25-0)
Analysis: Hard 'Nard gets points for defending his IBF middleweight title seven times, but he loses more for soundly losing to the only elite fighter he fought in the first 9½ years of his career (Jones) and for facing mainly mediocre opposition. Of the second-tier group that B-Hop has fought, Johnson and Lipsey were strong, young and undefeated but also unproven at the time. Brown and Aquino were naturally smaller fighters, plus aging and faded. Jackson was coming off a loss to a journeyman. Hopkins also loses points for struggling with Mercado in his first bout (in-which he was dropped twice by the limited Ecuadorian).



Jones


Roy Jones Jr.
Record after 9½ years: 38-1
The Elite: James Toney (44-0-2), Bernard Hopkins (22-1), Mike McCallum (49-3-1), and Virgil Hill (43-2)
The Strong: Montell Griffin (27-0), Lou Del Valle (27-1), Jorge Castro (70-3-2), Sugar Boy Malinga (35-, Eric Lucas (19-2-2), and Thomas Tate (29-2)
Analysis: Jones gets major points for dominating an unbeaten and battle-tested Toney at a time when Lights Out was considered to be a top 5 pound-for-pound player (No. 2 by Ring); more points for winning world titles in three weight classes (160, 168 and 175 pounds), and extra credit for unifying two of the three major belts at light heavyweight (WBA and WBC). He also gets points for absolutely dominating all of the "strong" fighters he faced. However, he doesn't get much added credit for besting the untested Hopkins (still green in '93), a very old version of McCallum (who was fighting over his prime weights), or Hill, who was coming off a loss and inactivity. Jones does get some extra points for making five defenses of his IBF 168-pound title, but loses a few for losing his cool and getting himself DQ'd in the first Griffin bout.