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Floyd Mayweather’s 6 round destruction of Arturo Gatti Jr this past June confirmed the near universal sentiment that the unbeaten 28 year old “Pretty Boy” is without peer in his weight classes and has achieved a level of pure domination equaled by few champions in ring history.
In terms of ring generalship, speed of hand, punching accuracy and conditioning, Mayweather rivals the Sugar Ray Leonard of 1978 and the “Mantequilla Napoles” of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Whether he can occupy their stature once his career is over is an issue strongly in doubt.
Mayweather is in a situation that has precedent. A decade ago Roy Jones Jr. was beginning his decade of domination in both the middleweight and light heavyweight class. Roy, like Floyd, was a study in brilliance and ring supremacy. Yet he never met a foeman truly worthy of his steel, one who dug deep into his heart and forced him to the precipice of defeat. You could point to the emergence of Antonio Tarver who defrocked Jones with a brutal two round knockout last May and registered a lopsided points verdict in their return earlier this month. [details]
In terms of ring generalship, speed of hand, punching accuracy and conditioning, Mayweather rivals the Sugar Ray Leonard of 1978 and the “Mantequilla Napoles” of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Whether he can occupy their stature once his career is over is an issue strongly in doubt.
Mayweather is in a situation that has precedent. A decade ago Roy Jones Jr. was beginning his decade of domination in both the middleweight and light heavyweight class. Roy, like Floyd, was a study in brilliance and ring supremacy. Yet he never met a foeman truly worthy of his steel, one who dug deep into his heart and forced him to the precipice of defeat. You could point to the emergence of Antonio Tarver who defrocked Jones with a brutal two round knockout last May and registered a lopsided points verdict in their return earlier this month. [details]
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