Does Floyd Mayweather Jr. crack the top 50 ATG list?

yep, zab caught him flush. the others didnt deserve a standing count. Yeah, I guess sending Floyd halfway across the ring and into a shell shouldn't count.

Really? Did you miss the DeMarcus Corley fight? Oscar fight? Augustus? A slew of others? yep, zab caught him flush. the others didnt deserve a standing count.

Not as clean as Zab caught him..... Really? Did you miss the DeMarcus Corley fight? Oscar fight? Augustus? A slew of others?

So you've seen Floyd get hit clean once in 39 fights? Do you watch his fights with your eyes closed? No, seriously. Not as clean as Zab caught him.....

TBH, thats the only time ive seen Floyd get hit clean in 39 of his fights. The first 4 rounds were difficult, but the guys smart and the body shots paid off in the end. Floyds too intelligent to keep getting hit clean with the same shot. So you've seen Floyd get hit clean once in 39 fights? Do you watch his fights with your eyes closed? No, seriously.

#1 Floyd was dropped against Judah. The ref might not have counted it, but it should have stood #2 A lot of people believe Castillo won the first fight, so it isn't clear cut when you say he's never lost. It makes it sound as if he's never been in danger of losing #3 Pernell lost to Trinidad and Oscar when he was well past his best, even though many feel he actually beat Oscar. The fact that you've even brought these fights up shows your limited knowledge of Pea. #4 Exactly how is Floyd better statistically? You are just another biased fanboy, without much knowledge before Floyd hit the scene. TBH, thats the only time ive seen Floyd get hit clean in 39 of his fights. The first 4 rounds were difficult, but the guys smart and the body shots paid off in the end. Floyds too intelligent to keep getting hit clean with the same shot.

Haha, okay fair enough :) Something tells me we're not going to agree on this lol! I've given my reasons why I think Floyd is not the GOAT defensively speaking, unlike the haters on here! But no worries, everyone has their own opinion! :) Yep respect, all i want is for people to back up their statements and opinions and give explanations to why they feel a certain way. Half of the guys on here simply make a statement then vanish.

Okay, then since you have seen prime Benitez, why is Floyd better? Floyd doesn't slip punches as well as Benitez did. Floyd is not as effective when his opponent is a good jabber and Benitez could slip/catch jabs with ease. Hitting him with a straight right when you were standing directing in front of him was damn near impossible. Another reason comes from the Duran vs Benitez fight. I have honestly never seen a boxer look so comfortable on the inside, up against the ropes/corner. Benitez was just blocking, ducking, slipping almost everything that Duran, the greatest in-fighter of all time threw at him. It was magical to watch. Whitaker proved his defence against the best opposition though. Clearly beating JCC (I don't care what the judges said!), is an example of his greatness. Compare this with Floyd vs Castillo I & II. Floyd's defence is one of the best of all time, top 5, but not the best. For me he's the best ever defensive fighter.

That might be a construed as nuthugging there. Which of Benitez's fights have you seen? The mans defence was amazing, better than Floyds. They didn't call him the radar for no reason. Even Ray Leonard praised his defence, once claiming Benitez knew what was coming before Leonard threw his punch (es). If one of the best offensive fighters of all time gives praise like this, you know they are very good. Also, ducking shots using reflexes isn't defensive ability? Huh? Ducking and slipping are the core of a good defence. Im a fan of the sport before a fan of any fighter. Please dont discredit me or even try undermining me, i have seen many fights of Benitez. Ducking shots using reflexes is one part of being a great defensive fighter. But fighters which use reflexes always get hit once there reflexes are no longer as sharp as they were. This is the case with all fighters with great reflexes. Ali, Jones Jr, and Whittaker. The proof is in the pudding, watch when Wright takes on Williams in April. Wrights defense will be the same as it has been all these years even after a long lay off. This is because his defense is not based on reflexes like other fighters such as Whittaker. This is why he lost against Oscar and Trinidad. His reflexes were not as sharp. Great defensive fighters maintain their defense throughout their careers.

i only read a few posts but felt the need to say; Pernell Whittaker was a better defensive master than floyd, that man won rounds based on defense.

What opposition has Floyd beat since 2002 that make him so much greater than Hopkins? Floyd most likely would humiliate Margarito. The guy has no real boxing ability. But Cotto and Williams would give him a lot of trouble. Floyd is less effective against a good jabber/body puncher which is why Cotto would trouble him and Williams would just be awkward because of huge reach advantage. If Floyd had the offense of Ray Leonard then it wouldn't be so much of an issue, but when you are potshotting against a WW with a bigger reach than Ali, it is. I think the P4P list is overrated as well. For example, beating Pacquiao is much more impressive because he's P4P #1?! How is beating a smaller guy more impressive than beating a larger guy (the bigger guys in this case are elite level fighters). Surely they should be placed on the same level, for different reasons? Lastly, read my previous posts. I've always said Floyd is skilled. There's no doubt that the man has talent in abundance. But he falls short on a lot of people's ATG lists because of an apparent lack of interest in dangerous fighters. This is where guys like yourself go seriously wrong. Fights are won on boxing ability not on weight. Floyd beats Cotto and Williams as they lack the neccesary skills to compete with him. Hatton was ment to punish Floyds body but that didnt happen as Floyds the master of preventing a fighter in using his best weapon. Examples include him preventing Oscar from using his left hook, Hatton using his body punches, Zab using his speed after the 3rd round... etc etc. Pacquiao has the skills to compete with Floyd. He has great speed and accuracy and punches in bunches. Since 2000, Floyd has beaten 8 world champions whilst moving up 5 weight catorgorys. He wins this clearly.

50ish give or take is where i feel.

i voted wrong, i meant to click YES. Floyd is #1 ATG :love: We dont need your nuthugging on this thread. This is a serious discussion.

Watch Pernell in his prime. Untouchable! Wilfred Benitez was better defensively too, as was Pep. Most of Peps fights are not even on video but ive heard he was a great defensive fighter. Benitiez was good but not on par with Floyd. Pernell was great defensively but much was because of his reflexes. He ducked a lot of shots based on his reflexes rather than his defensive ability. This is why Floyd is the best defensive fighter out of the two.

i voted wrong, i meant to click YES. Floyd is #1 ATG :love:

The old mantra of Floyd coulda, Floyd woulda, doesn't wash when talking ATG. Beating Cotto, Margarito and Williams would have shown that he could carry his skills into higher weight classes against the best of that particular division. And don't put words into my mouth, I didn't criticize all of his opponents. I actually said his early wins were very important, so let's not get defensive here when I don't fall head over heels in love with your fighter, eh? Btw, Floyd winning Fighter of the Decade would sum up for me everything that is wrong with boxing. The man retires in his prime when there are some good challenges out there and he gets rewarded? No wonder UFC is so popular! Hopkins should win hands down. Skills, achievements, dominance. Don't forget the man started the decade at 36 years old and since then he's beaten Trinidad, De La Hoya, Tarver, Winky, Pavlik and dropped v.close decisions to Taylor and Calzaghe. Trumps Floyd's achievements. Yeh because Floyds been tagging behind Hopkins all these years in p4p greatness. As much as i love Hopkins, Floyd is clearly the best fighter of the last decade. He dominated the last 6 years in boxing. Guys like yourself will never give Floyd the credit he deserves. This is the problem with boxing today. The greatest fighters never get the greatest respect. Beating Cotto, Margarito and Williams will not add as much to his legacy than him beating Pacquiao. These guys are seriously overrated in testing Floyds ability. He beats them all hands down. Pacquiao is the biggest threat.

Oscar has held belts in 6 weight classes, but you've already established that he's not greater than Floyd. Pernell was a greater defensive fighter than Floyd and did it against far better opposition, therefore Pernell is high on the list. Roy Jones would also be on the list because of his skills/dominance/HW title, but not as high as Pernell, because Roy was content to avoid some good competition while > 168. Thats based on opinion. When has Floyd ever been caught like Pernell had. Never. Floyd is the greatest defensive fighter ever.

He is anything from 45 to 75. anything higher is nuthuggery anything lower is hating!!!!!!!!!!!!! i agree maybe he just about cracks the top 50 he defo well in the top 100 so i voted for that

first off sir, can you read? i said not tyson would have beaten joe louis prime for prime and you know this. the only reason joe gets sooo much respect is because he did it a long time ago..... can you deny that mike had more skils than joe louis? i never said that mike did more than joe louis, i'm just sayin that p4p, mike kicks his ass You could see Louis's punches coming from a mile.

His early victories are definately important, but will hurt him is his unwillingness to go for the big challenges at the higher weights. Like I've said before the ATG list is based on skills and achievements, in which case Floyd is coming just short of the Top 50 at the moment. Like the poster said, there have been too many great fighters in history for Floyd to be put that high on the list when he retired at 30. Oh yeah Floyd ducked great fighters such as Williams, Cotto and Margarito? Some of you guys should seriously hear yourselfs. Floyd is the best fighter to come out of the last 10 years. Period. He is a top 30 ATG. What challenges has Floyd seriously got out there to test his greatness? Nothing other than Pacquiao. Thats the only great fight out there for him. Him beating Cotto, Margarito, or Williams dont mean shit. Stop with all these bullshit already. He was p4p champ for the last 4 years. Boxing experts believe he's the greatest to come out of the last decade. Keep critisizing all his opponents. You just sound dumb.