How popular would Floyd be in the 80s?

[heatman]

Welters were a lot bigger then, I dont think he would have fought at Welter at all, he probably would have only gone up as far as 140.

I think Floyd has a tremendous will to win and does whatever it takes. He makes ajustments when necessary and is comfortable fighting in a variety of styles. I pick him to hold his own against anyone from the 80's

[bojangles1987]

Well, he'd be competing with much more personable and fan friendly fighters like Sugar Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns, so he would probably be less popular. He'd be damn near hated if he had an attitude like he does now back then.

[Clyde Barrow]

In any era, he would be popular if he faced the best competition. Why is this so hard for people to understand? PBF has the skills fans would salivate over if only he would put them to use against the top fighters in his division. He used to do this, but adopted a prima donna attitude.

[keepthemhandsup]

well if floyd started his career in the 80's he would start at 130 which we know it was the weight class when he let his hands go

[MASSMAN]

He would have lost like his father did!

In all honesty, he would have been considered a very good fighter back then. He may not have been the most popular because Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran were the most popular fighters in boxing during the 80's. I believe Mayweather would have tried to fight those great fighters like Arguello, Pryor and Duran. He would have lost to those guys, just like Roger lost to Chavez and Floyd Sr. lost to Ray Leonard.

[handwraps]

floyd has shown he does not like fighting the best available fighters. all the boxers you mentioned fought each other and were all warriors. floyd is all talk. and with more boxers doing what hes not, hed be exposed as a coward. i dont have him beating hearns, leonard,duran, or hagler. so he is fortunate hes not boxing in the 80's. that was a great time for boxing.

[fightingfigs]

This isn't no hate on Floyd here, but after his move from 130 he wouldn't have been very popular in my opinion. His fights sell now because people want to see him lose, but without the advantages of the internet and other news outlets people wouldn't have paid a whole lot of mind to his cherry picking since then. His talent would be appreciated, but without his mouth his fights really don't draw. People watched fights to see the best fighting the best, thats what they tuned into. I highly doubt he'd be looked at with the sasme revere as the great fighters of the 80's. Jmo.

He wouldve been outboxed and clowned by Leonard, Duran wouldve been his worst nightmare, and Hearns wouldve knocked his ass out with his devestating power and reach.

Look Floyd had trouble with Jose Luis Castillo who isnt even on tier skill level by a million miles. Bottomline Floyd wouldve never campaigned at WW in the prime of the above 3 guys.

[fightingfigs]

He wouldve been outboxed and clowned by Leonard, Duran wouldve been his worst nightmare, and Hearns wouldve knocked his ass out with his devestating power and reach.

Look Floyd had trouble with Jose Luis Castillo who isnt even on tier skill level by a million miles. Bottomline Floyd wouldve never campaigned at WW in the prime of the above 3 guys.

Its funny because if you mention how Miguel Cotto wouldve done against those three I bet the general concensus would be" Oh he would get KTFO by all of those guy" But somehow Floyd (who is scared to fight Cotto cause Cotto would put an ass whooping on him) always seems to be beating these true ATGs. Thats ass backwards and ahalf or just pure bias

[fightingfigs]

Welters were a lot bigger then, I dont think he would have fought at Welter at all, he probably would have only gone up as far as 140.

I think Floyd has a tremendous will to win and does whatever it takes. He makes ajustments when necessary and is comfortable fighting in a variety of styles. I pick him to hold his own against anyone from the 80's

he has a tremendous will to fight washed up fighters and tomato cans. and yet he still gets compared to these guys

[VipersThunder]

Let me just start by saying:
I like boxing. When it comes to Mayweather I view him in the same way I viewed pro wrestler Ric Flair. He may have been one of the absolute best in the ring, but the fact of the matter is he was the bad guy so I was rooting for Hogan. Mayweather is amazing and I may be hoping he loses but his skills are amazing none the less. I think most of us can agree that the way he is portrayed on 24/7 makes you want to boo him, but none the less I need to watch his next fight.

My point:
How popular would Mayweather be if it was 1982? Personally I think kids my age(22, so I don't know what boxing was actually like back in the 80's but it seems like a golden era with leonard, hagler, duran, and hearns) have no attention spans. I don't think they can actually appreciate his skills. On the other side of the coin they didn't have 24/7 in the 80's which is something we can all agree has helped Mayweather's popularity.

My question?
How popular would Mayweather be in a different generation? I feel in earlier generations he would have gotten more credit for his skill but he wouldn't have had the marketing of 24/7. Personally I think he would be more popular than he is now, had more fans, but wouldn't have made the paydays he's made recently playing the bad guy.

What are your opinions?

Floyd would have been a welterweight punching bag in the 80's.