Quote Originally Posted by Bilbo View Post
On to this main question, I think it's an interesting but pointless discussion.

Reading people's reasons for dumping Floyd are quite enlightening to me though the reasons I shall now outline.

As Titofan is the most hostile to Floyd keeping his ranking I shall direct my post at him.

First off, you say that Floyd should be taken off to reward other fighters. This is strange. Are you suggesting that you agree Floyd is better, but to show respect for the efforts of more active fighters you want to pretend he's not around and leave him out? That seems a bit corrupt to me. If you think Floyd is one of the ten best fighters on the planet right now, surely he has to be there? He hasn't stated his retirement, and I think universally we all feel he is in the top 10 best living fighters right now, so should be ranked.

You also state that if we are going to keep Floyd in the p4p despite his inactivty then why not bring back all the other inactive fighters who could still be p4p.

I challenge you to name a single fighter who hasn't officially retired who could conceivably be rated in the top 10 who isn't there right now due to inactivty?

There isn't one, and this is the whole point.

If you take Floyd out the rankings, before he officially retires, he becomes the elephant in the room. We all know he's above the rest of those in there, arguably Manny aside and so ommiting him makes the p4p rankins wrong in an absolute sense.

I'm actually broadly in favour with Rafael's idea. If he hasn't announed anything by May 1st then, and only then can he consider being ommited, as a year's inactivty is considerable.

But let's give him another month, and if after he does announce a fight, I'd put him back in again as he clearly is a top 2 fighter by universal agreement.

I got no qualms with Floyd's skill level. Can't think of ANY boxing fan who would deny that Floyd has enviable boxing skills. But it's not just his inactivity that turns me off regarding p4p. It's his perceived "cherry-picking". I say "perceived" in an honest attempt to be objective here. Yeah.... I'm pretty vocal against Floyd.... but I'm trying to put on the "objective cap" here.

Whether Floyd ducks fighters or not, obviously is a matter of opinion. But the fact that it's even an issue, speaks for itself. No one accuses Pacquaio of ducking fighters. No one accuses Cotto of ducking fighters. No one accuses Martinez, JMM, Isra or Rafa of ducking fighters. But with Floyd, it's an issue.

And WHY would Floyd duck opponents? I don't know.... but he DOES seem a lot more concerned about his p4p status, and his "0" in the "Loss" column, than a lot of other fighters. It's that attitude that sets him apart from the others I've mentioned. Again, should THIS be grounds for not considering him for p4p? Like so many others have said, it's a matter of opinion. I respect others' and expect others to respect mine.

Finally, there's the inactivity itself. Maybe you're right.... there's probably no other "semi-retired" fighter out there today that would merit even consideration for p4p.... fair enough. But the clock continues to tick. And other fighters continue to win fights, give the fans what they want, and climb the p4p (albeit mythical) standings. How long are we going to allow Floyd to hang on to past glories? Someone said by this May. Kind of arbitrary, don't you think? Why not June? Why not grant him p4p for 2011 and give him until January 2012 before we disqualify him?

And what have been Floyd's latest opponents in the past three years? A woefully undersized (and carefully picked) JMM? A suddenly over-the-hill Mosley? When has Floyd, in the past few years, fought a truly dangerous fighter?

I gotta admit.... I just don't like the guy. Funny... 'cause I was totally rooting for him when he fought Judah some years back... and also when he fought Hatton. But he's totally changed since those days.
Just my opinion, of course.