The list of boxing’s all-time greats usually starts with Sugar Ray Robinson and works down, taking in Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard etc.
Top five or 10 fighters of all time? When it gets to that level, lists become almost meaningless.
They are all special, all courageous.
Floyd Mayweather Jnr deserves mention in the same breath as all those who have gone before.
Where I have always found fault is in his safety-first nature, in only ever doing enough to win and only ever fighting an opponent when it suits him.
Sugar Shane Mosley is a case in point, way past his peak if still a good fighter.
But who am I to say he is wrong to take the route of least resistance? It does not alter the fact he is blessed with unbelievable gifts.
What I love about him is that he is never in the pocket, as they say in America, never quite in punching range.
His head movement is fantastic and his feet move just enough to allow him to lean back out of trouble then pounce at the first sign of a mistake.
Mayweather does not move like Leonard or Ali, there is none of the dancing feet.
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But his reflexes are just as sharp and his hand speed is simply blinding. He feeds opponents shots. The first couple of punches are just timing, the third one has the money on it.
I reserve judgment about his prospects against Manny Pacquiao (inset) until I have seen him against Mosley in the early hours of tomorrow.
I suspect he would be too good for Manny but that’s for another day. Were Mayweather fighting the Mosley of 10 years ago, this would not be the straight-forward assignment I suspect it might be in Las Vegas.
At his best, Mosley was a great champion. He could box on the front or back foot and threw blistering combinations.
That was then.
The power button still works, as he showed against Ricardo Mayorga two years ago, but the telling detail that night was how he was losing until he threw the decisive shot in the final round.
I expect this to go to the cards in overwhelming favour of Mayweather, but as ever with him, it is in his hands.
He could let that left hook of his go early and stop it. That is his signature shot.
The jab will have a little more on it and when Mosley lunges, Mayweather will walk him on to the hook that puts him on his backside. Works every time – if your name is Mayweather.
