In light of Manny Pacquiao?s latest, too-close-for-comfort victory over rival Juan Manuel Marquez and Amir Khan?s controversial razor thin loss to Lamont Peterson (a fight I scored 114-111 for Khan), it?s time to shift the spotlight to undefeated all time great and this author?s pound-for-pound #1 fighter, Floyd Mayweather Jr. Recently, I received severe criticism from Floyd fanatics for criticizing Mayweather?s reluctance to face Pacquiao thus far and for having missed multiple threats throughout his career. The reason why I have been extremely frustrated with Mayweather is because of how great he truly is. Throughout the years, I have grown increasingly annoyed at having to defend his avoidanc of certain fighters I was certain he could defeat. Rather than focus on the fighters he hasn?t faced that I believe he could have defeated, I now want to give the man his due by putting the focus on fighters he did face and his amazing skill set.
This is necessary in light of two fighters who fought recently and are (or least were) viewed by many as serious threats to him: Amir Khan and Manny Pacquiao.
First, Mayweather is not a beloved man due to his behavior outside the ring. Burning hundred dollar bills during the Great Recession, going on racist diatribes during youtube videos, calling his father a ?faggot? on an episode of 24/7, allegedly beating up the mother of his children, etc… these are definitely not ways to endear yourself to the public and to help booster your own claim of being the ?best ever?. As humans we are all flawed, but fighters like Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali, and Ray Leonard were angels compared to Mayweather. Having stated that, inside the squared circle Floyd is a true master. He is a defensive genius who can fight going forwards, backwards, laterally, inside, outside. He can beat you in his hometown, in your hometown, if you are a southpaw, a boxer, a puncher, a speedster, taller. He is so head and shoulders above his contemporaries, that when he gets hit once or twice or loses a round here and there it is met with utter shock.
Think about it —are we shocked when Pacquiao gets hit? What about Khan? Regardless of how you scored the fight, were you shocked when he got tagged by Peterson and lost rounds? I believe the way we react to a fighter?s setbacks and circumstances throughout his fights is a sign of how we view his greatness. Take Roy Jones for example. In his prime, for Roy to get hit with a flush shot and/or to lose a round was very surprising. To see him get knocked out by Tarver in the rematch was stunning. Why was it so stunning? Because he was that damn great! Floyd is that damn great. Why were we so shocked when Mayweather got hit flush and hard by Mosley a couple times during the second round of their fight? Because it was the great Mayweather that it happened to!
Going back to the beginning of his career, I knew Mayweather was a special fighter. I could not believe others couldn?t see it. First they thought former WBC junior lightweight champion Genaro Hernandez would be too much for the talented, but ?green? Floyd. Mayweather beat him easily to win his first world title at age 21. The next ?test? was Angel Manfredy. I thought at the time ?are you kidding me?? Mayweather stopped him in the second round. The next mountain to climb was the late Diego Coralles. I distinctly remember being told by posters on a boxing forum I still post on that I was ?insane ? and a ?moron? for suggesting that Mayweather would dominate the slower, one dimensional Coralles who was actually favored to beat Floyd. Mayweather did just that, dropping Diego five times and stopping him in the tenth round of arguably one of the greatest performances in boxing history.
