Former five weight world champion Floyd Mayweather celebrated his 34th birthday today, one which finds him for the most part enjoying time off, shopping and placing huge bets on sporting events.
But a birthday which also finds him mired amid discussion over exactly where he should be ranked in the pound for pound stakes as an aging and only semi-active fighter, albeit a supremely talented one with an undefeated record.
In three months time it will be a full year since Mayweather last stepped foot in the ring, on that occasion to dominate Shane Mosley at the MGM grand in his adopted hometown of Las Vegas.
Currently there are no plans on the table at least publicly for Floyd’s return bout, and with court cases ahead and his numerous distractions and side projects taking up much of his time right now, it isn’t certain at this stage when he would even be able to return should he have a mind to.
Somewhat contradictorily to his recent activity level though, when interviewed Floyd is also keen to maintain that he is the number one pound for pound fighter in the world. Something he justifies by virtue of the fact that he has not been beaten to have been knocked off the number one spot.
Certainly there are plenty of fans who agree with him, as well as several prominent publications and well respected boxing journalists who still have him ranked as the number one, and likely will do until either he loses, retires or turns in a bad performance.
Equally though there are plenty of fans, journalists and publications who have tired of his lack of action, and have placed the reliably active and exciting Manny Pacquiao in at number one instead, a few even placing Middleweight champion Sergio Martinez and or Bantamweight king Nonito Donaire ahead of him as well.
Which begs the question of just how long Mayweather can maintain any kind of place in the rankings with his continuing inactivity, and whether he will be able to return successfully given his age and time away from the ring.
Also given the achievements of his peers of late, whether a comeback win over a decent but essentially placid opponent will still be enough to keep him relevant.
Outside of Pacquiao and perhaps Sergio Martinez, it isn’t guaranteed that wins over most of the current crop of welter and light middleweights would be enough to keep Mayweather in the top five pound for pound if the likes of Donaire, Martinez and others continue to improve and win.
In many ways Pacquiao is suffering under the same circumstances, in that no matter who he fights he is a big favorite and thus the win is then criticized. Because he fights at least twice per year though, and the fact that he is taking on bigger opponents each time he steps into the ring, this isn’t as much of a concern.
For Mayweather though, who doesn’t tend to fight more than once per year now, in the future there can be no questions over the quality of his opponents like there were with Marquez and Mosley if he intends to remain at the very apex of the sport.
That means either taking on the very best opponents out there, the likes of Pacquiao and Martinez, or the alternative, which is to become more active and take on at least highly ranked if not quite elite opponents.
Greg Wallis, Pitt: “If he beats Pac he would be back on top for a long time. Beating Khan or Berto might work as well though, depends on who’s side the media takes but before they have often regarded his wins as worth a lot more than Pacquiao’s for example”
Sal Hernandez, Manila: “He won’t ever get back to the top now that Manny is there because he won’t fight him and he ducked Cotto and Margarito when he was the best”
