What Does It Take To Become Greatest Boxer of All Time ?

[!! Shawn]

38 years old! Who did Robinson beat at 38? hell who did Robinson defend his titles against when he was champion? believe me resume for resume they weren't much better than Berto, maybe Jake Lamotta?

Kid Gavilan? Rocky Graziano? Carmen Basillio? Randy Turpin? Jake Lamotta? Gene Fullmer?

Typical Mayweather fan...

Knows absolutely nothing about the sport or its history. Lets see how well Mayweather would hold up to 800 more rounds in the ring, with 6 ounce horse hair gloves, and 15 round fights.

[Furn]

Stay the hell away from Amir Khan for one.

[!! Shawn]

This. It's not even just about boxing skills and resume, if you're not a hero or figure then the masses won't put you over a guy like Ali.

There is a HUGE difference. Ali fought and defeated 4 olympic gold medalists, as well as having one himself.

Floyd Patterson, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Leon Spinks.

Floyds opponents have rarely even had a notable amateur background. Not surprisingly, he avoided most of them that did.

Kostya Tszyu - 2 x World Amateur Champion
Erislandy Lara - World Amateur Champion, favorite for olympics, but defected.
Joel Casamayor - Olympic Gold Medalist
Amir Khan - Olympic Silver Medalist

Floyd's fights all look the same, because he fights fighter that fight the same over and over again.

Seriously, when is the last time you saw Floyd in the ring with a legitimately skilled slick boxer? Maybe the Cotto fight? He's done a good job of not hand picking that one's that have been around.

And to say it's because of marketability. That is no longer a valid argument after the selection of Berto. A fight that people that was someone trolling when rumors started to spread.

[bowl]

91 straight wins!

[soul_survivor]

It's a nearly unobtainable goal nowadays since the top fighters are considered investments and have their opponent choices micromanaged to the point that we're never sure how "legit" anyone is

Ray Robinson had a professional record of 173-19-6... How likely is it we see that again

I don't think Ali is GOAT... It's arguable if he even has the best HW resume of his century... He's tied up in the political climate of the day and was a crossover celebrity though so you get attacked for saying it

People won't attack you for saying Ali isn't the GOAT but not the best heavy? Heck, no one from Louis to Lewis has been better or even has a comparable resume.

But anyway, if this is about Mayweather, he can't be the best ever, he isn't even the best in the last 15 years.

[SplitSecond]

Alot of skill and grit, alot of luck of having other great fighters around you and actually getting to fight them.

[The Noose]

I find the question "who was p4p the GOAT" kinda ridiculous. The sport has changed so much and there are so many factors to consider.

Its all debatable, but i would say anyone claiming to be the best ever has to clearly separate themselves from the other ATG's. And to do that they have to win against the odds and do what everyone believes to be impossible.

Not just beat opposition you are expected to beat twice a year.

[Ahmed_Ismail]

Kid Gavilan? Rocky Graziano? Carmen Basillio? Randy Turpin? Jake Lamotta? Gene Fullmer?

Typical Mayweather fan...

Knows absolutely nothing about the sport or its history. Lets see how well Mayweather would hold up to 800 more rounds in the ring, with 6 ounce horse hair gloves, and 15 round fights.

Don't forget WHEN he fought these people, and out of 200 fights he could only pick 6 legit foes, who weren't near his level to begin with, these guys got famous cuz they BEAT or gave Robinson tough fights, without Robinson nobody would know much about these guys. I don't think any of these people were ever ranked P4P.

You wanna compare names for names, Floyd got Chicinito Hernandez in his 18th fight, Diego Corrales (P4P #5), Castillo, Judah, Baldomir, Dela Hoya, Hatton (undefeated and P4P rated), Marquez (P4P #2), Mosley (P4P #3), Cotto, Guerrero (P4P rated), Canelo (P4P rated), Maidana, Pacquiao (P4P #2).

Different eras, different conditions, comparisons are invalid, both were great in their own eras and that's the best any fighter could do, is to be the absolute best of their era and they were, all time rankings are a joke especially when fighters from the 40s get compared from fighters of today.

[Juof]

Floyd would of had to beat everyone hes beaten now about three times and fight random dudes with 15+ losses aswell 9 times a year then he would be considered the goat

[sunny31]

I think for the fighter its about finding their ceiling as a champion. With the greats they took on extraordinary challenges and in some cases failed and others succeeded. I'll give you two examples Ray Leonard fighting Hagler was extraordinary even more so when you consider the circumstances. Sugar Ray Robinson fighting for the light heavyweight title was an extraordinary attempt, in the first case Leonard won and enhanced his legacy greatly, in Ray Robinson's case he lost but the attempt is glorified today because it was a daring attempt to say the least and even in loss enhanced his legacy greatly. In both cases though the said fighters exposed their ceiling, it didn't matter the result per se, but they pushed themselves to a situation where people doubted them and their ability to accomplish the task or even survive it. You can throw Ali-Foreman into this equation.

I think Floyd Mayweather has just fallen short even though I think he has as much talent as any of the aforementioned fighters. I think he has as much physical talent as I've seen, apart from maybe Roy Jones. But he has never tried to find his ceiling for me. I don't think he is built that way, he measures risk vs reward always, its hard to criticise him for that, the only time you can is when he starts to call himself the best ever. At that point you can criticise him, because he has consistently not tried to seek the hardest challenges for best opponents. Also and the most important thing - even though he has had some close fights and a debatable win (Castillo I) he certainly hasn't tried to find his ceiling.