Who could have beaten Floyd?

[VG_Addict]

Is there anyone you would have favored to beat Floyd?

[Primo Carnera]

No.

[g3org3]

No not in his prime even now you would need to favour him against everyone at his weight and he's a old man well past his prime

[imp]

Only himself.

Old age..if he carries on and is crazy enough to go to 52 or 53-0 then he will be caught slipping.

Then perhaps if he was silly enough to fight at 160 (nudging 40 years old) with light welterweight power and no KO since Hatton..he would struggle.

I felt maidana caused him issues in the first fight and that awkward style exposed him a bit.

Pac fight was boring and horrible and I pray there's no repeat..

Roy Jones at a fantasy welterweight division straight after James Tony gives Floyd the fight of his life..make it 15 rounds for the hell of it.

Floyd is the best of this era and needs to be careful when selecting number 50..but it would be nice to see the best at 147 get the fight.

[frozensolid-702]

Is there anyone you would have favored to beat Floyd?

Depends on what weight class we're talking about.
147 and up? I'd say there's a few all time greats I wouldn't bet against. SRL had he style to give him fits. Maybe a young Delahoya or Mosely on the rise. Possibly Trinidad?
Not saying they WOULD win, just that if I were betting on the fights, I'd be hesitant to bet on either fighter. And trust me, I was a big Floyd fan (the fighter, not the person)
Also, he looked extremely vulnerable at times against ODLH at 154, same with Cotto. They were past it. Not washed up, but their best was clearly behind them at the time.

On the other hand, 140 and down? Nobody. Not Duran, not a single fighter ever.
People forget that Floyd didn't truly become a household name until he was at welter and up. The Delahoya fight sealed his legacy to the average, occasionally watches a big PPV fight boxing fan.
Floyd was brutal at 140, and prior to that he was even nastier.
He had devastating power in the smaller weight classes, and was freakishly fast with unparalleled reflexes to go with stellar defense.
Floyd is truly one on the greatest fighters ever, just not so much at 147, and even less at 154

[chef97]

I would have liked to have had a chance to see Kostya Tszyu vs. FMJ at 140 back in 2005 before Tszyu fought Ricky Hatton.... Let the record show that Floyd chose to fight Henry Bruseles instead of Tszyu or Hatton @ 140 back in 2005.....

[palmerq]

James stabler would have definently beaten floyd if floyd was brave enough to take the fight !

[X]

At 140, Aaron Pryor/Floyd Mayweather would have been a fight for the ages.

[Ron Swanson]

I would have liked to have had a chance to see Kostya Tszyu vs. FMJ at 140 back in 2005 before Tszyu fought Ricky Hatton.... Let the record show that Floyd chose to fight Henry Bruseles instead of Tszyu or Hatton @ 140 back in 2005.....

The record shows Floyd had great respect for KT and wanted to fight him. They were contractually bound to different networks though. With very little work you can find footage of Floyd both complimenting KT and saying they needed to fight. But then the Hatton fight happened.

As for who could have beat Floyd, it's boxing, many could have beat Floyd. But who would have beat Floyd, that's a whole different question.

Floyd wasn't the most physically gifted, that's Roy Jones. But Floyd was very very highly physically gifted.

And Floyd wasn't the technically most brilliant but he's up there with the best.

And speed, I personally think Floyds speed is greatly exaggerated. What Floyd had was great spacial awareness. If you know what your opponent will do where you are you are already at an advantage. Look through his history and you will see him get caught when people do awkward things. But Floyds speed was great.

His boxing mind was fantastic. Outside the ring he is a fool but inside the ring he knew everything his opponent would do and every way to take that away and turn it to his advantage. KT for example was far to simple for him. Outside a miracle shot it is a mismatch.

Defense, forget about it. There may be 5 better all time. Only may be.

So what do you do? You change levels like Maidana, making Floyd move before you attack. You apply constant pressure like Castillo did. You jab jab jab to open the weaknesses in his defense. But you do each out of rhythm. If you do anything in rhythm Floyd beats you. Castillo could have fought Floyd 100 more times, he never would have won. Each would be more dominant because Floyd would have had him timed better and better. You have to have no fear of being hit and hit flush. You have to have a good jab. You have to have a good mind. And good stamina. And mix it up. And have good footwork. Naming a fighter from his weight classes in his time that has it all is tough.

Or you just have to catch him flush. Maybe KT was the guy. All I know for certain is with his shit footwork Margarito wasn't the guy.

[Paul Kevin]

he is unbeaten fighter

[Gandalf]

Calzaghe was the greatest of all time. P4P Floyd wouldn't cope with that engine. You can only make it close by spoiling but he's still gonna outland you. No room to breathe.

[mikeeod]

First, it's professional boxing and we are all human, so if a pro boxer lands the right shot at the right time in the right place (completely lucky shot), ANYONE can be knocked out form it, including Floyd. The more accurate questions are: 1. Who would be favored to beat Floyd? and 2. Who do you think had the tools/style to consistently beat Floyd? My answers would be:

1. Floyd is no worse than 50/50 with ANYONE who EVER fought at 140 ot below. The only fighters I see having that good of a chance are prime versions of Duran, Whitaker, Pryor, Oscar, JCC, and Mosely. I think Kostya was great and strong, but I think Floyd is just too slick for him. At 147 I favor Hearns, both Sugar Rays, and possibly guys like Kid Gavilin and Emile Griffith due to unrealistic size advantages over Floyd.
2. The Duran who beat Leonard, the Whitaker who beat Chavez (wasn't a draw, despite what the judges said), prime Oscar, and the Pryor who beat Arguello are the only guys 140 and down who I see having all the tools to (possibly) win a majority of fights vs Floyd.

I'm not a huge fan of Floyd as a person, but I have to give him credit for his brilliance in the ring and as a (self) promoter. I have to agree that Floyd is a very highly ranked ATG, and that when you consider the totality of his career (money earned, brand recognition, faculties/wealth retained post career...etc.), it's hard to argue against him being one of the best ever (just can't bring myself to call him TBE though!).

[Primo Carnera]

I have to qualify my answer by saying I was only talking about current guys And blokes in his era.

[Master]

Sugar Ray Robinson, Leonard and Hearns at welterweight and maybe Tito, Oscar and Shane.

Pryor and Kostya and maybe Hatton and JCC at light welter.

Duran at lightweight and maybe JCC.

[powerpuncher]

There are some fighters in the past I think would be favored over him, but I was assuming this was meant if another fighter would be favored over him during his time.

I don't think any fighter at 147 or below would be favored over him but that doesn't mean that mayweather couldn't lose because of styles. I always thought that Cotto would have given a lot of trouble to mayweather a few years before they actually fought. A Mosley at 135 could have beaten Floyd too.

Other than that, I can't see anybody who I would give much of a chance to although we know that sometimes people surprise you (maidana for example).