By Lem Satterfield

In the aftermath of Floyd Mayweather's lopsided, 12-round decision over WBA welterweight king, Shane Mosley, HBO's Larry Merchant, among other things, told Mayweather, during the post-fight interview, that a lot of people, including himself, have criticized him for not always facing the best fighters.

"I don't think that there is any question that, over time, there's a perception that Floyd avoided guys like Antonio Margarito at one point, and, Shane Mosley in his prime. And there were others. All of this was heightened by the fact that, in the years since he fougth Oscar de la Hoya, Mayweather only fought two, smaller guy [referring to Mayweather's knockout victory over Ricky Hatton and his unanimous decision over Juan Manuel Marquez]," Merchant told BoxingScene.com

"Was he smart to fight those guys? Sure," said Merchant. "They were not only smaller, but they were popular, which means that he can maximize the money that he can make, and I respect that. But, in the meantime, he wasn't challenging himself."

Merchant considers Mayweather to be "One of the best fighters of his time," crediting him for being "Very, very smart, and even brilliant in the way that he has promoted and marketed himself."

Yet Merchant claims that the man nicknamed, "Money," is a "Dispassionate fighter," adding that, "Most of his fights have been anti-climactic."

"How often has Floyd Mayweather been in a real, competitive drama fight? Pernell Whitaker went for years without losing a round," said Merchant. "Maybe Floyd is just too good for his own good. So, I guess that you can't criticize him for that."

Mayweather ran his unbeaten record to 41-0, with 25 knockouts by defeating Mosley. Mayweather earned a guaranteed purse of $22.5 million against Mosley, and stands to make upwards of $40 million overall when his upside to the pay per view is added in.

"It's very rare that a pure boxer like him ever becomes a box office success, and he's been able to use his undefeated record. Being undefeated is a good thing, but it's never been how you judge whether a fighter was a great fighter or not. Sugar Ray Robinson fought Jake LaMotta six times. He fought Bobo Olson four times. He fought Carmen Basilio twice. He fought Gene Fulmer four times. Robinson was judged by who he fought and how he did," said Merchant.

"Muhammad Ali, I think, fought more big, tough, talented heavyweights than probably Joe Louis and Marciano combined. He lost to Ken Norton, he lost to Joe Frazier, but overall, he did pretty damn good," said Merchant.  "And that's how Ali is remembered is because he fought all of those guys -- not necessarily that he won every fight or every round."

Does Mayweather truly believe that he is as good or better than Sugar Ray Robinson or Muhammad Ali as he has claimed?

Merchant is not sure, nor, does he care.

"All of this historical stuff and this legacy stuff, I don't care about that. I really don't. I don't think that Sugar Ray Robinson ever uttered the word legacy. Nor did Joe Louis. But it's become a part of the modern narrative. It's like, 'Why are you fighting this guy?,' and the response is, 'Well, it's for my legacy,'" said Merchant.

"But all I want is for the best guys to fight the best guys. I want to see the good fights, the competitive fights that people want to see," said Merchant. "Floyd Mayweather doesn't even own a title right now. So what. Whether it's for a championship or not, I just want to see good fights because I think that that's what the fans want to see."

Which brings Merchant to the Big One: Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao.

If that fight doesn't happen, said Merchant, the perception will be that Floyd Mayweather didn't want it -- owing to his camp's insistence that both fighters subject themselves to Olympic-style drug testing as Mosley and Mayweather did.

"If it materializes, I think that, inside of the boxing world, most people will favor Mayweather," said Merchant. "Let's just hope that we get that fight."

Lem Satterfield is the boxing editor at AOL FanHouse and the news editor at BoxingScene.com.