Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s Place In History...

[Steak]

Mayweather may not have been the best in a lot of his divisions where he was champ and may not have fought the best at 140lbs and up...but the guy still has some outstanding credentials.
pretty much cleaned out 130lbs.(arguably the best ever at that weight)
Controversial fight with Castillo, but he beat him no question in the immediate rematch, and Castillo ended up being a very accomplished fighter. Ended up being the best at 135lbs.(though not for long)
Did not beat amazing guys at 140lbs, but he did beat the best 140lb fighter eventually, even if it was at 147lbs(which takes away from the victory a little, but you still have to give him plenty of credit)
Calling him the best at his weight at 147lbs and 154lbs is a joke, but his wins over Judah and Baldomir mean at least something, as does his win over De La Hoya(who was at worst a top 5 fighter at 154lbs, although the division was a little weak)

there are a few questions about his career, but it would be pretty tough to name over 30 fighters better than him.

[adrsan84]

skill wise he has to be one of the best ever, but his career achievments leave him somewhere in the top 30.

[Testdead]

I rate him in the top 5 of all time, he can adapt to anything given to him and his skill is immense, he can basically train on his own and still probably win!

Top 5?

Get the **** outta here.

[Truth]

I didn't put top 5 for a reason. I think thats going too far.lol...

I should have put it though because there are some who feel that way.

[Wiley Hyena]

Mayweather may not have been the best in a lot of his divisions where he was champ and may not have fought the best at 140lbs and up...but the guy still has some outstanding credentials.
pretty much cleaned out 130lbs.(arguably the best ever at that weight)
Controversial fight with Castillo, but he beat him no question in the immediate rematch, and Castillo ended up being a very accomplished fighter. Ended up being the best at 135lbs.(though not for long)
Did not beat amazing guys at 140lbs, but he did beat the best 140lb fighter eventually, even if it was at 147lbs(which takes away from the victory a little, but you still have to give him plenty of credit)
Calling him the best at his weight at 147lbs and 154lbs is a joke, but his wins over Judah and Baldomir mean at least something, as does his win over De La Hoya(who was at worst a top 5 fighter at 154lbs, although the division was a little weak)

there are a few questions about his career, but it would be pretty tough to name over 30 fighters better than him.

No. He did not beat the best 140 fighter. That was Kostya Tszyu. Floyd avoided Tszyu like the plague. I'll give props to Floyd at 130-135. But, after that he has problems. Done nothing to prove he's the best at WW.

I'll put Floyd in the top 50 for what he did at 130-135. Give him credit for actually losing the first Castillo fight and then coming back to legitimately avenge it.

[Dan...]

He's by far the best fighter of this generation, ahead of Pacquiao, Lewis, Hopkins, Jones, De La Hoya, Whitaker, Mosley, Toney, Trinidad and Morales, so I put him in the top 10 all time or else right outside it. He's never come close to losing a fight and has won titles in 5 different weight classes. The only fight he was in danger of losing he fought with one good arm for 11 rounds and still pulled it out. I don't think you can rank anybody from the last 20 years ahead of him.

So many inaccuracies here:

1) In no way could he be considered "by far the best of his generation". An arguement could be made for him being the best but it is certainly not a definite matter.

2) Top 10 all time is a bit of a joke IMO when you look back through the history of the sport and what some of the past greats have accomplished. I thought I was being a bit generous with top 30 but top 10 is just insane and tbh, is simply blatant nuthuggery.

3) He has never come close to losing a fight - I call a fight where the majority of observers have you behind close to losing. I thought he won that fight but no way in hell can you argue that he didn't come close to losing it.

4) You certainly can rank several ppl of the last 20 years ahead of him. No doubt.

And one other thing, if you think Pernell doesn't rank above Floyd you are just plain nuts.

[Allucard]

I'm going to be very honest, i voted top 20 but i've only seen 4 fighters fight the level of fight prime Floyd fought (135 pounds Floyd): Ali, Roy Jones Jr., Sugar Ray Robbinson and Floyd Mayweather Jr. No one else could hit you so well and so much without being tagged themselves. Robbinson still has no pair in cheer skill and accomplishments though but Floyd should get allot more credit than he's given. Definitely the best of this generation.

[-EX-]

Very true, but Joe wasn't in a position to make big fights happen. He was a nobody from Wales who no one wanted.

British fighters are a disadvantage because, well, they're not American who have everything on there doorstep.

Stick Roy or B-Hop in England from the day one and watch how their careers would pan out.

Is that Roy and Bernard's fault? No. Calzaghe aint beat the level of opposition that Roy and B-Hop have. Therefore I wont put him on their level.

[Dirk Diggler UK]

Simple Dirk has gone off the deep end.

Truly your nutsucking fanboyishness knows no boundaries.

Right on cue. Keep dancing and I'll keep slipping ones in your g-string.

[Steak]

No. He did not beat the best 140 fighter. That was Kostya Tszyu. Floyd avoided Tszyu like the plague. I'll give props to Floyd at 130-135. But, after that he has problems. Done nothing to prove he's the best at WW.

I'll put Floyd in the top 50 for what he did at 130-135. Give him credit for actually losing the first Castillo fight and then coming back to legitimately avenge it.

while I think that Tsyzu clearly is better than Hatton(at his best), you have to give credit for beating an undisputed #1 140lb fighter. and Hatton has been that #1 guy at 140lbs for a while, although the division is a little bit stale.

Mayweather's wins over Baldomir and Judah are ok. they were champs, but theyre really only so good. his win over De La Hoya isnt too bad either, the guy was clearly a top 5 guy at 154lbs, and while the division was weak at the time it was pretty impressive considering how far Floyd jumped in weight.

I also thought Floyd lost the first Castillo fight, but he clearly avenged it right afterward and Castillo is the best Lightweight in quite a while. I would go as far to say the most accomplished Lightweight since Whitaker actully, but I might be forgetting someone.