When Floyd Mayweather says that he is ?TBE? (The Best Ever),which is inevitably followed by uproar from boxing fans, it is hardly ever because people feel like Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Marvin Hagler, Mike Tyson and countless other greats are fundamentally better boxers.
The disdain, instead, comes from the fact that Floyd Mayweather?s opponent selections have always carried the aura of being ?strategic? ? in terms of when and how he fought elite fighters.
Yes, Floyd Mayweather fought Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez, but at that time, Canelo?s best and only significant win was against Austin Trout; at present, Trout is seen as a solid and valuable competitor, but not as truly elite. It is also a note that Floyd Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez was fought at a catchweight of 152 pounds. Fansided Daily
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Yes, Floyd Mayweather also fought Manny Pacquiao, but it was after Pacquiao took a (dubious) loss to Timothy Bradley Jr. and followed that setback with a devastating knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez. The three victories that Manny Pacquiao reeled off following those defeats were wins over a solid but unspectacular fighters Brandon Rios, Timothy Bradley Jr. (in a competitive fight, despite Bradley fighting on one leg from the 4th round on) and Chris Algieri, who at that time was literally only known for defeating Ruslan Provodnikov.
The above-cited fights were ones that Floyd Mayweather mentions that the world wanted to see. But there?s more evidence that undermines Floyd Mayweather?s claims: the timing of the Miguel Cotto fight, for instance; facing Marcos Maidana after he defeated Adrien Broner (no one on earth asked for that fight); giving Marcos Maiden a rematch, even if he was competitive in his first crack at Floyd Mayweather.
With that, what follows are a few fights that had they in fact occurred, Floyd Mayweather would face far less criticism when he claims to be ?TBE.?
