Floyd Mayweather Jr is held to a higher standard than other fighters.

Mayweather is held to higher standards than his peers. The fans, the media and insiders scrutinise every fight and decision he makes more than that of other fighters. I believe FMJ is the best fighter in the world today, and this won't be popular but i have Chad Dawson being number 2 (i will make his case another time). The fact that Pacfans, media and so called "experts" hold Floyd to such a high standard reinforces to me that they believe (whether they will admit it or not) that Floyd is the best fighter on the planet. Now let's examine further the higher (or double standards) that are applied to Mayweather, in particular by Pacfans. An obvious starting point is ODLH and Hatton. Both PBF and Pac blew up after these 2 wins. These 2 victories are their most notable.....not because they were the best fighters they beat, but because they were the most recognisable. These are the victories that pushed both fighters to superstardom. Don't beleive me.....take a look at the PPV's before and after------> the proof is in the pudding!!!!! Now Floyd get's very little credit for beating ODLH and Hatton by Pacfans and even the boxing media who seem to be far more impressed with Pac's victories over both men. Now Pac beat both in style, but let's put these victories into context. Mayweather fought a Freddie Roach trained ODLH as a welter fighting at jr middle. Officially Floyd won a split decision. Unofficially anyone who knows how to score a boxing match will tell you ODLH won a max of 4 rds. Pac fought ODLH a few years later at 147, a weight Oscar had not made for close to a decade. He walked into the fight severely drained and emaciated. When was the last time we have seen a fighter that obviously emaciated and drained (i don't remember:dunno:) Additionally ODLH looked terrible in his warmup fight against Forbes. He bruised very easily, a sure sign he had problems making the 150 catchweight. In short he was a "stationary" punching bag. Are we going to truly beleive the Mayweather that fought JMM or SSM for that matter wouldn't have destroyed the defenseless and slow ODLH that Manny fought at 147. Think about the last time Floyd fought a fighter who was defenseless because he was too slow and couldn't hit him......??? Arturro Gatti------> Floyd did a demolition job on Gatti!!! Objectively if you are being honest with yourself Floyds victory over ODLH is more impressive. Now let's move onto Hatton. When Floyd fought Hatton he was an undefeated challenger who was seen as a risk to Mayweather because of his workrate and speed (hand and foot). Mayweather put on a show and broke Hatton down over 10 rds. He KO'd an undefeated challenger stepping backwards throwing a check hook. Now think about that for a second. Think about the disparity in skill level it even takes to be able to throw a check left hook in a pro fight (how often you see others employ it successfully?) and Floyd was doing it consistently throughout the fight (he nearly KO'd Hatton in rd 8 with the exact same punch, in the exact same situation, in the exact same corner). He destroyed a game Hatton physically and mentally. Hatton by his own admission cried for weeks after the fight. In his return fights Hatton was unspectacular, bruised easily and was rocked. In short his punch resistance had declined. Look no further than Freddie Roach's comments on Hatton. Granted Pac destroyed Hatton with a great shot, but the version of Hatton that Floyd fought was better. Both fighters finished Hatton with highlight reel punches.....two of the best you could ever see. Given the method of victory and where Hatton was at i would rank Floyd's win only slightly higher if not on par. So the two biggest victories of Pac's career, the wins that launched him into the stratosphere were against two opponents, whose better selves were soundly beaten years earlier by Mayweather. Yet Pac is given greater credit for his victories by the media. Let's move on to JMM. Pac has had two life and death battles with JMM in two fights many agree (even the media, fans etc who i am talking about now) he lost. Many argued (Bert Sugar being one of them) that PBF had taken a very difficult return matchup in JMM. Though it seems obvious now, Floyd dominated the best counterpuncher in the sport besides himself. Even at 147 Manny would nevr be able to beat JMM the way Floyd did. Yet Floyd seems to get nothing but criticism for completely dominating the P4P # 3. Now let's look at SSM vs Cotto as opponents. Pac is given nothing but accolades for beating Cotto. Yet if we examine this situation we would see Cotto was destroyed by Margarito and then positioned against Jennings to take a paper title. He was then matched against Clottey in another tough fight, which i thought he lost (just), either way he was cut badly and hurt on numerous occassions and got the decision. Pac fought a Cotto coming off a demolition job from Margarito, a comeback fight to Michael Jennings and a hard fought win (see loss) against Clottey and at a catchweight of 145. Comparitively Floyd fought Shane coming off an impressive victory over Margarito. Granted Shane was decidedly unimpressive awhile before that against Mayorga and also beat a slow Vargas.. However the Shane Floyd beat is > than or at least equal to the Cotto manny beat. A pre-Margarito 147 Cotto beat Shane by only one or two rds. Additionally one could easily argue that Roach (since the last JMM) fight has been very careful in selecting Manny's opponents. Two have been converted southpaws and the other two rely on their left also. Yet it is the media and Pacfans who accuse Mayweather of choosing lesser opposition. I think the media, experts and even Pacfans hold Floyd to higher standards in terms of performances and opponent selection than they do Pac and other fighters because he is the best. I believe there are many many less vocal fans who think floyd is the best. His PPV numbers help ell the story. They are far and above anyone else atm. I tend to think of their recent fights Floyd's oppossition is better than Pac's recent fights. I think in 10 years time people will come to this realisation. I think in the fullness of time unless Pac fights and beats Floyd he will be considered this era's greatest fighter. The fact that Floyd is held to a higher standard (and also double standard) in terms of selection of opponents and performaces and basically everything that is relevant in the sport indicates to me that deep down the fans, the media and the experts know he is truly the best of this era. People expect miracles from Floyd. Let me know what you think if you took away both hatton & ODLH on their resumes, Pacquiao would still rank higher than Floyd on any list

Why do you have problem with him being held to higher standards? Are you content that he's compared to Baldomir and Judah? like i said i view it as an admission that he is the best..........

wanna know what i think, check hook? ur obviusly biased with ur article by not mentioning ryann;s facts. talkin bout double-standards lol clearly i am inherently bias........however for Pac (media + fans) to claim greater credit for beating a walking corpse over a fighter beating the same man as a welter years earlier is plain silly.........

Excellent read. I would Green K but I'm red. Haha. And I highly agree with Dawson being #2 behind Floyd.

how come you mention manny's catchweight fight while completely ignoring floyd's very own catch weight fight? fighting cotto at 145 lbs is less of a pussy move than floyd fighting jmm at 145, which he didn't even make. double standards. smh

Why do you have problem with him being held to higher standards? Are you content that he's compared to Baldomir and Judah?

Great article from a famous, influential sportswriter. Many fans will be able to read this

I don't argue that. However taking away all pre fight nonsense and looking at the facts, the ODLH that Floyd fought was a viable opponent. The ODLH Pac fought Collazo would have KO'd that night. the odlh that floyd fought would also be ko'd by manny pac. i really don't see how THAT oscar could do much better. this weight drained thing is taken way out of proportions. oscar actually threw more punches than manny in the first few rounds.

floyd fought hatton at a weight were hatton never looked any good. manny fought hatton at his best weight where he was the lineal champ. floyd fought oscar at a weight he is more comfortable with, but it doesn't take the fact that: 1. It was oscar who proposed that fight to be at 147 2. Manny had to come up 2 divisions right after having his first fight at 135 3. was considered a circus match where manny was supposed to get whooped. now, if you take all the excuses away, we are left with the facts: manny beat both more convincingly than floyd. I don't argue that. However taking away all pre fight nonsense and looking at the facts, the ODLH that Floyd fought was a viable opponent. The ODLH Pac fought Collazo would have KO'd that night.

Great Job...I think regardless of what Pacquiao does, he'll always get more credit because of his style. I just want to hear/see the Media's reaction when Floyd beat him. he got more credit cause he is more accomplished. not some "double standard" you claim everyone has against floyd. but whatever.....

yep and baldomir would have ko'd pacquiao

funny how some of you guys use the "catchweight" excuse where cotto had to lose 1 pound from his last weight in while marquez had to go up two divisions to a catchweight floyd didn't even make.

floyd fought hatton at a weight were hatton never looked any good. manny fought hatton at his best weight where he was the lineal champ. floyd fought oscar at a weight he is more comfortable with, but it doesn't take the fact that: 1. It was oscar who proposed that fight to be at 147 2. Manny had to come up 2 divisions right after having his first fight at 135 3. was considered a circus match where manny was supposed to get whooped. now, if you take all the excuses away, we are left with the facts: manny beat both more convincingly than floyd.

Great Job...I think regardless of what Pacquiao does, he'll always get more credit because of his style. I just want to hear/see the Media's reaction when Floyd beat him.