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Whatever anyone says about Floyd Mayweather, whether it be he is a cowardly ducker or that he is the ATG #1, there is one thing I genuinely believe that no-one here will argue with, and that is that he is the most talented boxer that currently exists on earth. Whether you like the man or dislike him, I think we all know in our hearts that this is the truth.
And now he is retired. Well, maybe he is and maybe he isn't. I for one think we will see the Floyd in the ring again, but whether we like to admit it or not, both haters and fans will be clamouring for his return until the day it happens. His haters will say he has to come back in order to prove himself, and his fans will call for him to prove that he doesn't, but both ultimately will be asking for the same thing. But what happens if this time he really means it?
I'll tell you. If Floyd Mayweather has fought his last fight then we will have lost two things, two things that should be important to boxing fans of all stripes, whichever side of the Mayweather divide they may lie on. The first is simple, we will have lost the best boxer we have, and as boxing fans we all should be big enough to admit it. Whatever we may feel or think about Mayweather personally, if we truly love the sport we ought to be able to to acknowledge that losing its best exponent, the only fighter right now we know for sure is going to be somewhere on that ATG list, is a sad day indeed. Mayweather might be top 100, 50, 20 or 10 but there is no doubt that he is on there somewhere, and there is not a single prime fighter out there right now about whom we can say the same thing. Love him or hate him, Mayweather was and is one of the very best.
The second thing we have lost if Floyd really has gone, and which we will lose tomorrow even if we have not really lost it today, is much more ephemeral and also much more concrete. We will have lost a way of looking at boxing. As fans of boxing in the current era, our appreciation of boxing and boxers has, without our even acknowledging it or realising it, always been filtered through the Mayweather lens.
Look at the posts dominating the first page of this forum right now, in the immediate aftermath of Floyd's supposed retirement. "Joe Calzaghe is P4P #1", "Is Pacman Now Boxing's P4P", "What do You Think Of Floyd not Fighting the Cotto/ Marg Winner" etc etc. Every single one of them is predicated on one thing: the absence of Floyd Mayweather Junior from boxing.
No matter who you are a fan of, no matter what your specific take on boxing is, Floyd retiring has just changed your world. If you are a Pac or Calzaghe fan, suddenly your talk about your guy being the best stopped being just talk. If you follow Cotto or Margarito your guy just went from fighting for second place to fighting for genuine welterweight supremacy. If you are an old school boxing fan you are asking yourself where, really does Floyd fit into this picture. Even more importantly, if you are a Floyd fan, as I believe probably most of the posters on here are, you are now contemplatiing a boxing world that is so radically different from before that it might very well never hold the same lustre for you ever again. The thing is, no matter how much many people might try to deny it, the Floyd fans are not alone. If Floyd really means it this time and he is really gone for good, then all of us are now looking at a radically different boxing world, and that is all down to Floyd Mayweather.
So what does all of this mean? You might say nothing, you might say Floyd will be back. Maybe he will. But maybe he won't, and even if he is, this day will come for real sometime, and all the posts, all the talk we are having now, will in the end have to deal with the reality of a retired Floyd Mayweather, and whether it's now, next week or next year, it won't really matter, the effect will be the same. When it does, if it has, let me ask you all to do something. Just for a moment and whatever you think of the man, whether you like him or loathe him, take a moment to appreciate him for what he is, the best practitioner of boxing today and the best we will see for a while. We all have our favourites boxers, and they all may have more appealing styles and personalities than does Floyd, but there is one thing we can say for sure: not a single one of them out there today is even close to being in the same class as a boxer, and as boxing fans it befits us to acknowledge and admire him for it, because twenty years from now every single one of us will be doing exactly that.
When the next generation asks us "Who was Floyd Mayweather?" we will be the only people in history lucky enough to be able to tell them:
"I knew who he was, I saw him fight, I saw him go out, and he was the best of his time."
No-one else will ever be able to say the same, so lets all of us realise how lucky we are.
And now he is retired. Well, maybe he is and maybe he isn't. I for one think we will see the Floyd in the ring again, but whether we like to admit it or not, both haters and fans will be clamouring for his return until the day it happens. His haters will say he has to come back in order to prove himself, and his fans will call for him to prove that he doesn't, but both ultimately will be asking for the same thing. But what happens if this time he really means it?
I'll tell you. If Floyd Mayweather has fought his last fight then we will have lost two things, two things that should be important to boxing fans of all stripes, whichever side of the Mayweather divide they may lie on. The first is simple, we will have lost the best boxer we have, and as boxing fans we all should be big enough to admit it. Whatever we may feel or think about Mayweather personally, if we truly love the sport we ought to be able to to acknowledge that losing its best exponent, the only fighter right now we know for sure is going to be somewhere on that ATG list, is a sad day indeed. Mayweather might be top 100, 50, 20 or 10 but there is no doubt that he is on there somewhere, and there is not a single prime fighter out there right now about whom we can say the same thing. Love him or hate him, Mayweather was and is one of the very best.
The second thing we have lost if Floyd really has gone, and which we will lose tomorrow even if we have not really lost it today, is much more ephemeral and also much more concrete. We will have lost a way of looking at boxing. As fans of boxing in the current era, our appreciation of boxing and boxers has, without our even acknowledging it or realising it, always been filtered through the Mayweather lens.
Look at the posts dominating the first page of this forum right now, in the immediate aftermath of Floyd's supposed retirement. "Joe Calzaghe is P4P #1", "Is Pacman Now Boxing's P4P", "What do You Think Of Floyd not Fighting the Cotto/ Marg Winner" etc etc. Every single one of them is predicated on one thing: the absence of Floyd Mayweather Junior from boxing.
No matter who you are a fan of, no matter what your specific take on boxing is, Floyd retiring has just changed your world. If you are a Pac or Calzaghe fan, suddenly your talk about your guy being the best stopped being just talk. If you follow Cotto or Margarito your guy just went from fighting for second place to fighting for genuine welterweight supremacy. If you are an old school boxing fan you are asking yourself where, really does Floyd fit into this picture. Even more importantly, if you are a Floyd fan, as I believe probably most of the posters on here are, you are now contemplatiing a boxing world that is so radically different from before that it might very well never hold the same lustre for you ever again. The thing is, no matter how much many people might try to deny it, the Floyd fans are not alone. If Floyd really means it this time and he is really gone for good, then all of us are now looking at a radically different boxing world, and that is all down to Floyd Mayweather.
So what does all of this mean? You might say nothing, you might say Floyd will be back. Maybe he will. But maybe he won't, and even if he is, this day will come for real sometime, and all the posts, all the talk we are having now, will in the end have to deal with the reality of a retired Floyd Mayweather, and whether it's now, next week or next year, it won't really matter, the effect will be the same. When it does, if it has, let me ask you all to do something. Just for a moment and whatever you think of the man, whether you like him or loathe him, take a moment to appreciate him for what he is, the best practitioner of boxing today and the best we will see for a while. We all have our favourites boxers, and they all may have more appealing styles and personalities than does Floyd, but there is one thing we can say for sure: not a single one of them out there today is even close to being in the same class as a boxer, and as boxing fans it befits us to acknowledge and admire him for it, because twenty years from now every single one of us will be doing exactly that.
When the next generation asks us "Who was Floyd Mayweather?" we will be the only people in history lucky enough to be able to tell them:
"I knew who he was, I saw him fight, I saw him go out, and he was the best of his time."
No-one else will ever be able to say the same, so lets all of us realise how lucky we are.
................
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