20 years from now, what we will remeber floyd for?

[MANGLER]

Makin people hate him is what made him a star the last 2 years, which is great in the moment cuz it puts asses in seats. But for the long haul, it makes it easier for people to forget how good he was and how much he accomplished. Retiring smack in the middle of his prime while he was the recognized champ of boxing's best division is gonna make a lotta people **** on his long term legacy.

[Ramamaiden]

what if.... its all i can say
we all know the guy is awesome, has amazing skills, but we all wanted to see him against some other top level guy that were on his prime. cotto, margarito, williams, mosley...all fights that people wanted. maybe he could have lose a fight, maybe not, but depending on how you lose it can give you a better legacy. for example leonard losing against duran, wow...after watching that my admiration to leonard went up. the same of marquez against pacquiao....i was really impressed with marquez after the second fight, the guy is awesome, and of course the same as his brother against vasquez. losing in a fight like that just makes your boxing legacy even better.
there is a reason that both marquez havent left the top ten p4p on the rings ratings even after a lose, and little marquez after 2 consecutive loses.

[williamhvx1]

... i don't give a crap if floyd retire i guess i just want know . what ppl will think in the future.. i am puerto rican my dad tell me story how benitez ,gomez and all other good boxer where back on the days.. about floyd i guess a few of us will be telling our kids that he was a skill boxer and other ppl would not even mentioned to they kids.. i got story's of cotto , trinidad, tyson,chico , castillo,pavlik,rjj, and a lot more better exiting boxer that will be better to talk about.

[Mr. Ryan]

Really? To me he will always be my 130 pound measuring stick and it will be very hard for anyone to match up with him at that weight in my eyes anyways. From there everything else he did was gravy for his all time great status (if you are one of the top fighters ever in a weightclass you are an ATG to me). Sure the guys you listed and many others are above him but that does not make him any less great in his own era.


Could he have done more at 140, 147 and possibly even 135 but when you add it all up I think it works out.

At 130 pounds there is no doubt he was unbelievable. He'd have punchers backing up in the first round, that to me is exceptional. If he had gotten fights with Casamayor or Freitas, that would have just been gravy.

His record past 135 is suspect and a little bit of a letdown, especially considering that he was a young, still prime fighter at those weights. I still don't see that extra push for greatness at the higher weights, I think he could have done more but maybe time will be kind to that.

[El Jesus]

honestly, what else could he have done at 135 that would have even been worthwhile? Jose Luis Castillo was outstanding at 135, and the other recent guys who were really good at that weight didint really come on until later, what more could he have done?

[El Jesus]

he will be remembered as a poor man's Leonard.

Only if you have never seen sugar ray leonard fight a day in your life. They are nothing alike.

[KJB]

I'd say Mayweather will be remembered as a very good fighter, actually a great fighter who didn't take the risks necessary to become an all-time great, like Ali, Robinson and Leonard did.

I fully agree. A great fighter, who could have, with a few more fights, been considered even greater.
Still, the mofo is an amazing fighter, and I will remember that first and foremost.

[abadger]

In twenty years Floyd Mayweather will be regarded much more highly than he is now. First of all, the pro and anti-Floyd hype we see on these boards is just that, silly hype on an insignificant internet message board, it doesn't even reflect the way the majority of people even see Floyd now, let alone in the future. As time passes, the circumstances of a fighters career are forgotten and all that remains is a list of people they beat and video footage of them in the ring. In 2028 when thinking of Floyd Mayweather no-one will recall the fact that he 'ducked Cotto' or his annoying personality, apart from affectionately when grizzled old talking heads say 'Floyd Mayweather loved to be the bad-boy' on TV documentaries about boxing history.

Also, the passage of time always adds lustre to any boxing career. As a fighters last fight slips further and further into the past, so too does regret grow that we will never see them fight again. Every re-watch of a fight reiterates the skill and heart they had, accentuated because we will never see them repeat it. This is all the more true when that fighter is the consensus best boxer of his era, and leaves behind a record taking in five weight classes and a boxing career that contains dominant attacking displays of crisp punching, speed, combinations and KOs shifting to performances of defensive mastery so complete that many opponents never even seem to land a punch. In the future Mayweather will be regarded as one of the very best boxers ever to lace up gloves.

[MELLY-MEL...]

he will be remembered by most as an atg fighter who had some of the greatest natural ability combined with a great boxing mind. he will be remembered by hard core boxing fans the same, but most of them will also agree he could have done more.

[lance_uppercut]

At this point I'd remember him for being someone with superior boxing skills and a solid record who for whatever reason chose to retire with a few unanswered questions in regards to his career. I can't jump the gun and call him a phenom or a coward...it's not like this is the first time he's taken time off boxing. For all we know he may very well come back to the WW division and answer some of these questions. But for right now I'd remember him as a great fighter at 135-140 who retired before delving deeply into 147.