Since his domination of Shane Mosley last weekend, many fans and media outlets now have Floyd Mayweather ranked as the pound for pound best fighter in the world.
The only fighters with any kind of claim to the pound for pound throne at the moment are Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, and the better of the pair will never truly be known unless they fight each other.
Certainly, beating Mosley was impressive, and at the very least proves that Mayweather is ready and willing to take on the best fighters in the division. Critics who had Mayweather pinned as a cherry picker who would only fight smaller opponents are as we speak eating their words, me included.
Just how does his win over Mosley compare to Pacquiao’s win over Miguel Cotto though, and is it enough to lift him above Pacquiao in the mythical pound for pound rankings?
As usual there are plenty of flawed arguments on both sides for and against either fight being the better of the two. For example some will no doubt argue that since Pacquiao finished Cotto, that he has the better win. This is wrong simply because the stoppage only means Pacquiao is the better finisher. Mayweather vs. Mosley might not have been as exciting, but the performance from Floyd was no less dominant.
On the other side of the argument some have said that since Mosley was the linear welterweight champion, beating him was the better win. This is also flawed because of the untidy little equation that Cotto, Mosley and Antonio Margarito make. Although he might have been the linear champion at the time, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he was the better fighter.
Which is the better win? Mayweather over Mosley Pacquiao over Cotto
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Pacquiao crushing Cotto (AP Photo)
That all being said, both wins were still very impressive. Pacquiao certainly didn’t have any trouble putting a complete demolition job on Cotto, and Mosley barely touched Mayweather after the second round.
As for which was the better win though, moving up to beat Cotto is probably slightly better. Also the odds were a little closer for Pacquiao vs. Cotto than they were for Mayweather vs. Mosley. Obviously odds aren’t a true indication of how good a fighter is, but when separating otherwise very similar fights they can have some merit.
Cotto was perceived as an unknown quantity against Pacquiao, and given his light welterweight excursion against Hatton had only lasted 2 rounds, it wasn’t clear how well he would handle the bigger fighters of the welterweight division. Mosley was counted out of winning the Mayweather fight by almost all of the experts and most of the fans. The most expected was that Mosley might make the fight competitive.
Pacquiao moving up and taking on the best in the division is more of an achievement than beating the third best in the division. Especially given Mayweather had fought in the division for several years. There isn’t a lot in it, but it is enough to seperate Pacquiao and Mayweather in the pound for pound standings.
Jose Thomas, Pittsburgh: “Mayweather is number one because he isn’t scared to take the tests. Pac is on roids so he can never be number one until he proves he’s innocent”
Eoin Lennon, Pittsburgh: “At best beating Mosley is only the same as beating Cotto, so I don’t see how Mayweather is back on top of the rankings again”
