by Edward Chaykovsky
Former two division world champion Paulie Malignaggi, who works as an expert analyst for Showtime, says WBC/WBA welterweight and junior middleweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (47-0, 26KOs) is no longer the fighter who dominated the competition from start to finish several years ago. Mayweather is now closer to 40 than he is to 30 and starting to look a little slower and more vulnerable to incoming punchers.
Mayweather has fought four times in the last two years and plans to fight two mores times next year, in May and September.
"I don't know if he has a lot left as the best pound for pound fighter. I think the greatness of Floyd Mayweather and his best days are probably behind him. Hopefully he's appreciated and looked at for the things [he's done] in his prime. Comparing Floyd Mayweather to the prime Ray Robinson or the prime Ray Leonard of the past is just ludicrous. At the age that Mayweather is at now, none of those guys were even relevant anymore. I think you have to give the guy credit for what he's accomplished and what he's done," Malignaggi told ESPN.
"Even if his shortcomings are a little bit more at 38-years-old, you have to understand that nature is what it is and you can't control it. Eventually he is going to look the worse for wear little by little."