Why didn’t Floyd Mayweather fight Tszyu, Cotto, Margarito and Mosely in their primes?

[GrandpaBernard]

They all ducked Floyd except Margarito. Floyd had to choose between fighting Margarito or fighting Oscar De La Hoya essentially. He made the more lucrative and tougher option.

lol margarito went right up to Floyd to ask for a fight

Clearest example of wanting a fight in years lmao

[CoachMac34]

You can tell from this thread which posters actually know their boxing history. And which posters are nothing but emotional females with an ax to grind.

Perfect reply! I remember laughing when Sugar Shane said that he had a toothache and wanted to spend more time with his family.

[PunchMeIDareYou]

The fact is that after he utterly destroyed Gatti in front of the world none of those guys wanted any parts of him.

[THEFRESHBRAWLER]

Lol this thread backfired. You were wrong as always. Don’t you get tired of getting owned and smacked around?

[Mateuz asato]

I’m a big fan of Floyd Mayweather and he’s the best boxer in the last 20-25 years. However, I can’t deny the fact that he retired undefeated is because he ducked some of the best boxers of his era during the second phase of his career.

We all know styles make fights and based on how he struggled against Zab Judah, Castillo, and Maidana - I’m sure at least 1 of the 4 boxers up there would have beaten him. Tszyu was a bad boy that had Zab Judah doing the stanky leg and Margarito was a tough nut with power and a better version of Maidana. Also, prime Cotto before he was damaged with padded gloves by Margarito would’ve caused Mayweather all kinds of trouble. Ditto prime Shane Mosley.

This is basically why most purists don’t view Mayweather as the GOAT despite his unbeaten record and he would’ve ranked higher if he took more risks during the 2nd phase of his career. And it’s also why I don’t rate boxers like Loma, Spence, GGG and to an extent, Canelo (bum beaters like Wilder and Fury don’t belong in this convo because they will never be ATGs...the guys listed have potentials to be ATGs).

When a write-up like this starts with I'm a big Floyd fan.............I just know

[paulf]

You can tell from this thread which posters actually know their boxing history. And which posters are nothing but emotional females with an ax to grind.

For real. Im all for new fans and have nothing against everyone that got into boxing during Pacquiao-mania, but seeing posters try to reframe history they’re clueless about is painful. I would never try to make claims about what guys like JCC Sr or Ray Mancini did or didn’t fight because I can read opinion pieces all day long, but I wasn’t there and don’t have the context.

Is Floyd Mayweather an obnoxious man child? Yes. But that doesnt change the fact that no promoter wanted him fighting their ticket-sellers after he massacred Arturo Gatti.

[Mateuz asato]

Because he followed the Haymon model of safety (business) first and legacy second.

It's precisely the reason he will not go down as THE all time greatest boxer IMO.

Tszyu
Hatton at 140.
Cotto in his prime.
Mosley in his prime.
Margarito instead of Baldomir.
Canelo without catch-weight.
De La Hoya without him boiling down

Fight and beat these guys at the right time and nobody could argue that he isn't the greatest boxer of all time.

No one will get universal acclaim as the greatest boxer, cause it's based on perception,once you can make top 20 universally then you've got a solid case
And among Floyd's peers it's nothing but respect, even cotto doesn't think Floyd ducked him in his prime(by d way cotto is younger) whose fault is it, if he had a shorter prime and he moved up in weight faster than Floyd..........Floyd did the best he could by fighting cotto at 154.
Floyd doesn't need anyone's validation

[Monzon99]

Because Floyd was a protected fraud and a confessed "coward" who knew who he could beat, who would destroy him and who Al Haymon could buy off.

Floyd was a total fraud. The US establishment needed a black star to sell and Floyd was their vehicle. Haymon, HBO, Showtime, Nevada all conspired to make sure he never lost.

[boliodogs]

I’m a big fan of Floyd Mayweather and he’s the best boxer in the last 20-25 years. However, I can’t deny the fact that he retired undefeated is because he ducked some of the best boxers of his era during the second phase of his career.

We all know styles make fights and based on how he struggled against Zab Judah, Castillo, and Maidana - I’m sure at least 1 of the 4 boxers up there would have beaten him. Tszyu was a bad boy that had Zab Judah doing the stanky leg and Margarito was a tough nut with power and a better version of Maidana. Also, prime Cotto before he was damaged with padded gloves by Margarito would’ve caused Mayweather all kinds of trouble. Ditto prime Shane Mosley.

This is basically why most purists don’t view Mayweather as the GOAT despite his unbeaten record and he would’ve ranked higher if he took more risks during the 2nd phase of his career. And it’s also why I don’t rate boxers like Loma, Spence, GGG and to an extent, Canelo (bum beaters like Wilder and Fury don’t belong in this convo because they will never be ATGs...the guys listed have potentials to be ATGs).

Every thread you start is trashing one boxer or another. Mayweather fought lots of good fighters and more than most. It would be almost impossible for him to fight every good fighter near his weight in the middle of their prime unless he fought about 10 times a year. There is zero proof that Margarito used loaded gloves against Cotto. This is just your assumption and not on any kind of fact or proof. Margarito got in trouble just before the Mosley fight and that does not mean he cheated in any previuos fight. Margarito was a hard puncher and Cotto had a mediocre chin.. Had Margarito used bricks in his gloves for Cotto he should have KOed him in round one and not have to come from behind to beat him down with hundreds of punches. If Margarito needed to cheat to beat Cotto how would he have been a threat to Mayweather? I don't think Mayweather was even close to the GOAT. I think he might be in the top 20. Just my opinion. I saw too many guys his weight on film or live I thought would beat him prime against prime.

[Monzon99]

American boxing was in a major drought, the Klitschkos ruled the heavyweight division, American establishment needed a black star to sell, so Haymon manipulated HBO and Showtime to minimize Klitschko and even not televise some of their title fights. HBO was manipulated to portray Floyd as the (counterfeit) superstar of the era but HBO had enough when it realize Haymon and Floyd were never going to fight Pacquiao, they let Floyd go and Haymon manipulated Espinoza/Showtime to buy the Floyd fraud to the tune of a six fight $150m contract. By the end of that, Les Moonves demanded by ultimatum that Floyd fight Pacquiao and that's the only reason it finally happened. Now the rematch is another $100m plus for Floyd but Floyd does not want it, he asked Pac to do a fake fight exhibition instead. That is Floyd's legacy right there - fake fight, fake career, based on corruption, fixing, paying off opponents to play soft (Canelo), media manipulation (All of US boxing media never criticized Floyd's ducking and handpicking and fake retiring). Without Al Haymon protection and corruption Floyd would have had a career like his father.