"Forget $$ Floyd, chase greatness!" No matter what he does...it's never enough.

[Wacko3205]

Forget Money Floyd, chase greatness!
By Ian Keogh (Nov 16, 2006)

http://www.doghouseboxing.com/IAN/Keogh_111506.htm

After easily defeating Carlos Baldomir November 4th in Las Vegas a tearful eyed Floyd Mayweather Jr. announced to the gathered media it was "one and done". One more fight and retirement, the stroll into the sunset to enjoy his riches. In fairness to Mayweather Jr. maybe he will call it a career, maybe he's truly had enough of boxing. I for one don't believe that's the case. Mayweather Jr. is closing in on a mega fight with the pay-per-view champion of boxing, Oscar De La Hoya. Mayweather Jr. knows a fight with De La Hoya means huge money, more then he's ever made as well as exposure, precious exposure. Mayweather Jr. has stated that he's the greatest fighter of all time and if he truly believes this fighting De La Hoya isn't necessary. Will it make him a lot of money? Of course. Will it put him out there, will the everyday sports fan know who he is? Probably. Will it make him the greatest fighter of all time? Absolutely not.

While De La Hoya will bring in big money he won't bring Mayweather Jr. to the promise land of being all time great. Oscar De La Hoya hasn't really been a pro boxer in years. In May 2007 it will be a full year since his last fight and only the second fight in nearly three years. Not exactly the resume of a pro fighter. So why should Mayweather Jr. turn away from the big money Oscar could bring him? Easy, to become great. To have his name mentioned with Robinson, Ali,
Leonard and Duran. If Mayweather Jr. does indeed fight De La Hoya next year and win what would that really prove? We already know he's good. But what if Mayweather Jr. decided to take the road less travelled? What if he said to himself "I'm gonna take the toughest fights and prove to the critics and doubters that I'm truly the greatest". There are more attractive fights to be made for Mayweather Jr. then De La Hoya. England's Ricky Hatton, the universally recognized super lightweight champion of the world. At 41-0 and a major ticket seller in the U.K this could be a huge fight for Mayweather Jr. both financially and historically. What if Floyd decided to take his talents to Manchester, to Old Trafford in front of 40,000+ people and beat Hatton? It would be a huge step towards greatness. He would have beaten a fellow undefeated champion in his home country and more importantly he'd be the junior welterweight and welterweight world champion.

Let's not stop at Hatton though, there are plenty of fighters in their prime that Mayweather Jr. could tackle for less money then De La Hoya but more praise from the people. After all, isn't that what it's about? Isn't he looking to be remembered as the greatest? The people will be the ones who remember you, Floyd. In all likelihood Winky Wright won't bring a $10 million+ payday, but beating Wright – who’s at worst the #3 pound-for-pound world – would further Mayweather Jr's claim to being an all time great. Wright is bigger and stronger then Mayweather and his skills aren't all that far behind. He's a middleweight currently but has said he'd make 154 for a Mayweather fight. If Mayweather Jr. took on Wright and won he'd have gained every boxing fan's respect and praise as the #1 fighter today pound-for-pound. Period. What about the undefeated Miguel Cotto? Cotto who'll make the jump to welterweight this December against the skilled but rather unproven Carlos Quintana probably couldn't have timed his ascension any better. Should he beat Quintana he'll definitely be a challenge worth talking for Mayweather Jr. Again, he might not bring De La Hoya money but a win over the young undefeated Puerto Rican adds much needed respect to Mayweather Jr's resume. There are other fighters who Floyd can fight that won't make him De La Hoya rich but will generate the talk needed by fans to give you the moniker of all time great. Antonio Margarito, the WBO welterweight champion is practically dying for a big fight and his combination of size and strength could give Mayweather Jr. trouble, or at the very least a challenge. Kermit Cintron, the recently crown IBF welterweight titlist would hold considerable physical advantages over the naturally smaller Mayweather Jr.

I can go on and on about young, talented fighters who'll make Mayweather Jr's resume shine more but if he isn't interested in his resume looking sexier then his bank account is there any point? Fighting De La Hoya will make you very wealthy, Floyd, but then what? We expect you to beat him, he's half way out the retirement door himself. Beating your peers, young, strong and undefeated like yourself will build undeniable respect and admiration from the fans. After all, the fans won't remember or care how much money you made. They'll look at your resume and see who you fought and who you beat. Win or lose, challenge yourself. Does anyone fault the great Roberto Duran for losing to Marvin Hagler? Of course not, he's applauded for facing the best middleweight of his era despite starting his career around featherweight. Is Bob Foster frowned upon for losing to Frazier or Ali? No. He's remembered as a vicious light heavyweight champion who could end your evening with one stretch of his arm. The report is the fight is signed and sealed for May 5th, 2007. A shame in my eyes. This fight will bring a lot of needed publicity to boxing but it won't bring Mayweather Jr. any closer to all time great status and that's priceless.

No matter who Floyd defeats...it will NEVER be enough.

There will always be one more man that Floyd shoulda met to be considered great.

[Majesty]

Same with Roy Jones.

If Floyd is knocked out by Oscar, none of his accomplishments mean anything, he'll just be a hasbeen overrated waste of talent that was knocked out when he truly stepped it up

[Violent Demise]

Floyd can go up to heavyweight and knock out Samuel Peter in 3 rounds and the haters will say "how come he couldn't do it in one?"

[Wacko3205]

Same with Roy Jones.

If Floyd is knocked out by Oscar, none of his accomplishments mean anything, he'll just be a hasbeen overrated waste of talent that was knocked out when he truly stepped it up

Agreed...kinda. I was all for Jones coming back & kicking Tarver's ass...but after getting sparked out by Johnson...I was mortified for his safety.

[Poom]

Thing is nobody respected Baldomir anyway so the win he just had isn't gonna change his greatness tag imo

[Purist]

Thing is nobody respected Baldomir anyway so the win he just had isn't gonna change his greatness tag imo

if nobody respected Baldomir then why did some people pick Floyd to lose. Even some saying that Baldomir could knock Floyd out

Please, he was respected until Floyd made him look ordinary

[Jimanuel Boogustus]

Nice Artc Wack, CC.

The writter was a bit too keen on Hatton IMO but it would be a mega fight.
That window has all but gone now anyway (i still dont understand what happened with PBF at 140, he beat Gatti, Hatton beat Tszyu... wtf happened?)

Anyway... i dont understand why the writter is looking at the Oscar fight so negatively

[Fenster]

Thing is nobody respected Baldomir anyway so the win he just had isn't gonna change his greatness tag imo

if nobody respected Baldomir then why did some people pick Floyd to lose. Even some saying that Baldomir could knock Floyd out

Please, he was respected until Floyd made him look ordinary

Or you could say he was ordinary until Zab made him look respectable.

[Purist]

Thing is nobody respected Baldomir anyway so the win he just had isn't gonna change his greatness tag imo

if nobody respected Baldomir then why did some people pick Floyd to lose. Even some saying that Baldomir could knock Floyd out

Please, he was respected until Floyd made him look ordinary

Or you could say he was ordinary until Zab made him look respectable.

knew he'd give Zab a tough fight

And if Zab made him look respectable, Gatti made him look like the second Monzoon

[Fenster]

Thing is nobody respected Baldomir anyway so the win he just had isn't gonna change his greatness tag imo

if nobody respected Baldomir then why did some people pick Floyd to lose. Even some saying that Baldomir could knock Floyd out

Please, he was respected until Floyd made him look ordinary

Or you could say he was ordinary until Zab made him look respectable.

knew he'd give Zab a tough fight

And if Zab made him look respectable, Gatti made him look like the second Monzoon

Well yeah. I guess thats why some people (delusional. Eternal optimists.) thought he'd be a match for Floyd.

[CutMeMick]

The thing is HE contradicts himself SOOOOOO FUCKEN MUCH!!! that it's
1. Funny
2. He needs to make up his mind
3. Needs to shut his mouth and stay busy fighting NOT talking.


I swear PBF should have beeb a lawyer instead of a boxer.....

[Bx730NY]

He doesn't take any dangerous fights and that's the bottom line. The only recent one is Zab and we all saw how that was going b4 Zab ran out of steam.

[CutMeMick]

He doesn't take any dangerous fights and that's the bottom line. The only recent one is Zab and we all saw how that was going b4 Zab ran out of steam.

Even then, Zab was coming off a loss to Baldomir....
Wheres the danger in that?

[SigmaMu]

Thing is nobody respected Baldomir anyway so the win he just had isn't gonna change his greatness tag imo

if nobody respected Baldomir then why did some people pick Floyd to lose. Even some saying that Baldomir could knock Floyd out

Please, he was respected until Floyd made him look ordinary

Because they were stupid and they let the hate blind them.
They don't follow boxing close enough and when Baldi knocked out Shottie Gatti, they thought that Baldi had some power. EH! WRONG!
Today, I could cut Gatti with a handfull of Doritos and knock him out with my medium size soft drink while sitting in the stands.
I said Baldi would look ancient and I ment it.
If PBF retires after De La Hoya, he will not go down as a HOF'er in my books.
The only great fighters PBF has beat are Castillo and Corrales.
Credit to PBF for beating an undeafeted fighter Diego Corrales other than him there is no other real stand out here. Ok there is but, if you do your home work, you will see that these clowns following floyds beating of Castillo? None of them are Durans, Hearns, Haglers or Sugar Ray Leonards of this generation and not even close.

Carlos Manuel Baldomir
Zab Judah
Sharmba Mitchell
Arturo Gatti
Henry Bruseles
DeMarcus Corley
Phillip N'dou
Victoriano Sosa
(all of these clowns PBF faught in his prime) What a fucking waste of a prime and now the biatch boy wants to retire? LMAO! He ducked a grip of nikkus on his way in and out.

None of these cats are future HOF'ers except maybe Gatti but he is the exception only because he is real famous but he ain't great.
PBF was born in the wrong era but he should stick around a little longer and beat some more bums before he retires, it would not hurt but he has to find some real tuff opposition.
I honestly would give him mad props if he gave the public what they want and faught Hatton, Cotto and Margarito. Those are the fighters I want to see fight. Others want to see the likes of maybe Sugar Shane M, Ronald Winky W. Also agree these would be good fights.

Floyd has been running around for four years hand picking these bums. He needs to step up and fighting Olden Boy, I mean Golden boy wont hurt. It will be a boring fight and NO PBF will not stand toe to toe with Oldie. If you believe that statement for one minute, then you are just as dumb as the people who thought believed Baldi would knock out PBF. These must not have known that Baldi only has like 10 knock outs in like 50 fights. He is not a knock out artist.

Peace.

[El Gamo]

He doesn't take any dangerous fights and that's the bottom line. The only recent one is Zab and we all saw how that was going b4 Zab ran out of steam.

Even then, Zab was coming off a loss to Baldomir....
Wheres the danger in that?

CC.Totally agree. He gets criticism because he has all the talent in the world but does not put it to use. To all fans,when was the last time he he had a fight and you thought he might lose? Castillo?> Secondly,you call yourself the greatest and have this resume



Carlos Manuel Baldomir
Zab Judah
Sharmba Mitchell
Arturo Gatti
Henry Bruseles
DeMarcus Corley
Phillip N'dou
Victoriano Sosa

If that's the CV of a legend,you're fooking joking. He beat great fighters earlier on but does it mean he should take it easy now?? As for peeps saying Baldo would win,it was out of hope and dislike for Floyd rather than genuine belief....Dislike stemming from the fact that he has fought those guys above instead of the Hattons,Cottos,Margaritos,williams,Tszyus,Casamayo r etc etc etc of the boxing world.

And to you PBF fans who whine and say what he has to do to get respect etc etc stop being so narrow minded. Look at his list of opponents from the last 4 years and look at just some of the fighters I mentioned and compre the 2,and tell me which he would get mose respect for. Heck most of
he fighters he fought were coming off losses?!!!

And every P4P number 1 has been criticised,even when they don't open their mouths but when your mouth is as big as his......obviously you'll get criticised more. And don't even get me started on the numerous contradictions he has made.