Is Floyd Mayweather Jr an All Time Great?

[tyger]

Group 1
Joe Louis
Ray Robinson
Henry Armstrong
Ray Leonard
Willie Pep
Muhammad Ali
etc

Group 2
Felix Trinidad
Oscar De La Hoya
Mike Tyson
Joey Maxim
Max Schmeling
etc

To me Floyd is a great and belongs among the greats in group 2

No way I believe he belongs in with group 1
He would have to take all challenges for the next four years to achieve that,
and he has alot of time to make up for.

[Dynamite Kid]

When Jose Luis Castillo is the best name on your resume .............

He is an ATG but a second tear ATG

[BennyST]

he's great but nowhere near what he or his delusional fan base claim he is. He hasnt fought a threatening opposition since jose luis castillo at 135 & please save me the zab judah, carlos baldomir, ricky hatton & oscar at 154 defense. He never fought the top dogs 140, 147, & 154. Even at 135 he chose a castillo who has somehow become HOF material over somebody like joel casamayor.

His talent is ATG, his resume & actual ATG status (at least what he & his fans claim) need to be verified. Verification in the form of fighting the top guys, again, & again......



& again.

Well, you know that Castillo beat Casamayor? They also had quite similar careers. Lots of good wins, and a few losses, though of course Castillo has many more losses and some pretty bad knock out losses in there too even before he fought Mayweather.

Weird career.

[Obama]

Cotto going to beat Pac anyways.

So much for that prediction.

Cotto could have won if he stuck to his jab and didn't trade when Pac finally managed to get a good shot in during the early rounds....he should have known he was too slow.

Anyways, unless Mayweather somehow loses all of his fights now....he's an ATG.

[ROSS CALIFORNIA]

I think he needs this win over Pac to solidify his ATG status. Personally I see him beating most, if not all the ATG's of the past in his weight class. He's an amazing fighter and I think he will prove that against Pac, but you just never know until it happens.

[ROSS CALIFORNIA]

So much for that prediction.

Well, at least you git this one right:

Given the brutal fights Cotto seems to get himself into, he may not even be good by then.

A lot of guys thought he got KO'd just because Margarito cheated.

[JAB5239]

Whether you love him or hate him, you can't deny that Floyd Mayweather is a incredible talent. At his best and focused his would be a problem for any fighter past or present.

Mayweather is a defensive master. He has mastered the art of the shoulder roll defence. His parrying, blocking, and slipping is second to none. He is also one of the fastest fighters to put on a pair of gloves, Mayweathers punchers are that fast and crisp, most of the time who don't even see them coming.

He is also a master at fighting off the ropes, and he can adapt to any situation and style. When in the Prizering, he is as relaxed as can be, he almost look's at times like his is as comfortable in a ring as he is in his home. He has cat like reflexes, and seems to see punchers coming from a mile away.

Kevin Iole said that the late great Eddie Futch said that he's seen Floyd Mayweather make moves that he hasn't seen anyone make in 50 years.

He is also one of the most dedicated fighters of all time, not drinking or smoking, and in the gym all year round. It dosen't get tested often due to his defence and reflexes, but Mayweathers chin and toughness also seem to be superb.

He was one of the best Super Featherweights of all time. He won the WBC Featherweight Title at just 21, and defended it 8 times, in a span of three years.

In that time he beat the likes of Genaro Hernandez, Angel Manfredy, and the then unbeaten 33-0 Diego Corrales.

Alot of people were picking Corrales to beat Mayweather, but in Mayweathers finest hour, he treated Corrales like a second rate amature. His speed, accuarcy and timing in that fight was incredible, he stopped Corrales in 10 one sided rounds.

He would then go onto move to defeat number #1 Rated Lightweight Jose Luis Castillio twice, and defend his Lightweight title 3 times.

Before moving up and winning the WBC 140 Title by outclassing Arturo Gatti, and making it look easy.

He then moved up another weight class to win the IBF 147b Title from slick Zab Judah.. After handing a boxing lesson to number #1 Welterweight Carlops Baldomir.

Mayweather took icon and 6 weight division champion Oscar De La Hoya, in the biggest PPV fight of time. De La Hoya was coming of spectacular KO victory over WBC champion Ricardo Mayorga.

The fight was at 154lb. In a close and tactical affair. Mayweather took a SD. I always thought Mayweather won the fight, without much controversy.

Then in one of Mayweathers best performances, he defeated the 43-0 140lb King and WBA 147 Title holder Ricky Hatton. Hatton was considered one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world, but Mayweather slowly took him apart and stopped him in 10.

In his last fight, Mayweather put on another Boxing clinic. Coming back from a 2 year layoff, Mayweather took on P4P #2 Juan Manuel Marquez.

Although Marquez was a fair bit smaller tha Mayweather, Marquez had been very active over the last five years, and in that time had two fights with number #1 P4P Manny Paciquao, alot of people thought Marquez beat Pac both times, he drew and lost the two bouts.

Mayweather virtually whipe washed Marquez on route to a UD. Although Juan was much smaller, alot of fighters from the past such as Sam Langford, Henry Armstrong, Bob Fitzsimmons, and so on, would often give tons of weight away and still beat some of the best around.

So I feel Mayweather deserves some credit...........

But Mayweathers cocky, loudmouth persona often overshadows his greatness in the ring. Thus the reason so many people find it hard to give him credit for his in ring achivements.

He may not be on the level of the likes of Ray Robinson, Henry Armstrong, and Harry Greb for greatness. But few are. But Mayweather should be remembered as one of the most gifted fighters of all time and one of the best fighters of if not the best of this era.

Floyd Mayweathers Accomplishments
-P4P Rated best fighter in the world
-Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year in 1998 and 2007
-World Boxing Hall of Fame Fighter of the Year (2002)
-5 Weight Division Champion

Mayweathers Resume Of Wins
-Genaro Hernandez
-Angel Manfredy
-Diego Corrales (33-0)
-Jesus Chavez (35-1)
-Jose Luis Castillo X2
-Sharmba Mitchell
-Arturo Gatti
-Zab Judah
-Carlos Manuel Baldomir
-Oscar De La Hoya
-Ricky Hatton (43-0)
-Juan Manuel Marquez

Amature Accomplishments
-1993 National Golden Gloves Light Flyweight Champion
-1994 National Golden Gloves Flyweight Champion
-1995 United States Amateur Featherweight Champion
-1996 National Golden Gloves Featherweight Champion
-Bronze Medalist for the United States at the Olympics in Atlanta 1996

Your posts have been great and I got nothing but respect, but I will disagree with you and the esteemed Mr. Futch on the part bolded. I believe both James Toney and Bernard Hopkins were doing many of the same moves as Floyd before him. Probably many others too. Floyd just makes it look so good though. I can't stand Floyd, but this is no knock on him. nThere are many things Floyd can be criticized for.....his skill and talent are not one of them.

[cooper5]

NO, he is good but not in any "all time" catagory. He could have suck around and cleaned out a division. I feel his best accomplishments were at junior lightweight, but looking back even at that, it doesn't stand out as spectular. Don't get me wrong I think he's great champion, just not an all time great.

[JAB5239]

NO, he is good but not in any "all time" catagory. He could have suck around and cleaned out a division. I feel his best accomplishments were at junior lightweight, but looking back even at that, it doesn't stand out as spectular. Don't get me wrong I think he's great champion, just not an all time great.

Like I've already said, I don't like Floyd one bit. His dominance at 130 was spectacular though. I only rate Alexis Argeullo higher than him at that weight all time. Jmo.

[Marcov]

Floyd was great at 130, but I myself don't consider Manfredy, Corrales(God rest his soul) and Hernandez great. Remember most of the all timers cleaned out divisions when there was only one champion per division. Even fighters like Hagler had all the titles and took on all challengers for years, because he had to.
Today fighters may be great or good and pick and choose opponents. It is more a sign of the times and not limited to any one fighter. ATG's like Joe Louis never had the option of not fighting another champion or contender in his own weight class because he didn't want to take the risk.

But I do agree Mayweather should go down in history as an All Time Great Super Featherweight. But thats it for me.

Of course I respect the opinions of those who do, I just don't see it that way myself.