Who's higher on your ATG list, Mayweather or Whitaker?

[Vasyl’s dad]

thats not really fair for the other fighters.
If its impossible for a fighter to do that, how do you expect him to pull off the same feat?

Off the top of my head, Barney Ross seems like Armstrong's best win though. I would like to compare Whitaker's opponents and Armstrong's opponents, but I know very little about most the competition before the 1960s

Joe Calzaghe is a 2 weight division champ right now. At some point of which I do not know, the ruling was changed. Finding out the time would help my case, but yes, you do have a point.

[MikeBrew328]

Floyd could've been an ATG if he stayed in his own division, but chased the money at 147...

[cuzfozzy]

whittaker ducked no one ... even stepping up to fight trinidad
but mayweather is too scared to lose ...
he only fights one dimensional fighters like hatton and gatti ...

[Thread Stealer]

I rank Whitaker higher.

At 135, Whitaker is one of the greatest ever. His competition wasn't the best, but he unified and beat some good fighters, and dominated nearly everyone. I had the first Ramirez fight 8-4 for Whitaker.

His achievements below 140 are reasonably even with Mayweather below 140. Mayweather being one of the greatest ever at 130 isn't quite the same as being one of the greatest ever at 135, as it is not a traditional weight class, but still one of the richest junior divisions historically along with 140. But Mayweather also won the title at 135 and beat the guy considered the best 135 lb. fighter in the world.

At 140, both Whitaker and Mayweather beat one of the weaker title-holders (Pineda was probably better than Gatti), and faced the top guy at 140 when they were welterweight champs. The Whitaker-Chavez fight has some resemblance to Mayweather-Hatton in terms of weight. Chavez never really did much above 140, and their bout was at a catch weight 145 I think. Both Mayweather and Whitaker however, were better at lower weight classes than they were at welterweight. Chavez is obviously a much greater fighter historically than Hatton, but despite Chavez's p4p ranking at the time and his amazing record, I think Hatton was closer to his prime than Chavez was. And Mayweather knocked Hatton silly while Whitaker won 8-4 IMO.

The McGirt wins, however, are often overlooked. McGirt was a very good fighter and ranked in the top 5 p4p at the time when Whitaker beat him the first time. Whitaker more or less dominated the entertaining rematch. Those wins mean considerably more than Mayweather's wins over Judah and Baldomir, as McGirt was simply a better fighter than those 2.

The De La Hoya and Vasquez wins at 154 are comparable for Mayweather and Whitaker. De La Hoya was the more talented and skilled fighter, but Vasquez unlike De La Hoya was in his prime (and had recently beaten a young Winky Wright).

Whitaker's performance against a 24-year old De La Hoya was his last great performance. It wasn't exactly fun to watch, but Whitaker arguably beat (I had it even) a terrific young fighter in De La Hoya. Whitaker was considered pretty far past it mainly due to his last 3 performances. That helps his legacy to be past it and arguably beat a fighter on Oscar's level.

Mayweather has some time to catch up as I don't take this retirement all that seriously.

[El Jesus]

I rank Whitaker higher.

At 135, Whitaker is one of the greatest ever. His competition wasn't the best, but he unified and beat some good fighters, and dominated nearly everyone. I had the first Ramirez fight 8-4 for Whitaker.

His achievements below 140 are reasonably even with Mayweather below 140. Mayweather being one of the greatest ever at 130 isn't quite the same as being one of the greatest ever at 135, as it is not a traditional weight class, but still one of the richest junior divisions historically along with 140. But Mayweather also won the title at 135 and beat the guy considered the best 135 lb. fighter in the world.

At 140, both Whitaker and Mayweather beat one of the weaker title-holders (Pineda was probably better than Gatti), and faced the top guy at 140 when they were welterweight champs. The Whitaker-Chavez fight has some resemblance to Mayweather-Hatton in terms of weight. Chavez never really did much above 140, and their bout was at a catch weight 145 I think. Both Mayweather and Whitaker however, were better at lower weight classes than they were at welterweight. Chavez is obviously a much greater fighter historically than Hatton, but despite Chavez's p4p ranking at the time and his amazing record, I think Hatton was closer to his prime than Chavez was. And Mayweather knocked Hatton silly while Whitaker won 8-4 IMO.

The McGirt wins, however, are often overlooked. McGirt was a very good fighter and ranked in the top 5 p4p at the time when Whitaker beat him the first time. Whitaker more or less dominated the entertaining rematch. Those wins mean considerably more than Mayweather's wins over Judah and Baldomir, as McGirt was simply a better fighter than those 2.

The De La Hoya and Vasquez wins at 154 are comparable for Mayweather and Whitaker. De La Hoya was the more talented and skilled fighter, but Vasquez unlike De La Hoya was in his prime (and had recently beaten a young Winky Wright).

Whitaker's performance against a 24-year old De La Hoya was his last great performance. It wasn't exactly fun to watch, but Whitaker arguably beat (I had it even) a terrific young fighter in De La Hoya. Whitaker was considered pretty far past it mainly due to his last 3 performances. That helps his legacy to be past it and arguably beat a fighter on Oscar's level.

Mayweather has some time to catch up as I don't take this retirement all that seriously.

you know what i think is crazy though, how mayweathers handlers were being ripped early in his career for matching him up with tough fights so early in his career. I have to admit, times and opinions have changed, especially among those who have only been following the sport within the last few years, but mayweather took some very hard fights early in his career that could have left alot of fighters in ruin. with that bein said, mayweather would only need a fight against cotto to really redeem himself at even terms with whitaker in my opinion, because there isnt really another fight out there for him if cotto gets by oscar and margarito.