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Floyd does make opponents fight at his pace, and that proves he has loads of great ring generalship. He has lost some of this since jumping up in weight, however, and those of us who have watched him for most of his career have noticed this.
Floyd has excellent hand speed, as well as decent accuracy. He also possesses evasiveness and swift ring movement. These skills allowed Mayweather to counter-punch effectively and score in bursts against his slower opponents. Since becoming one of the top fighters in the world, he has allowed these skills to fade in favor of forcing a stale, one-punch-at-a-time fight. Those of us who have watched him have noticed this.
Against De La Hoya, there would not have been a fight if Oscar hadn't pressed Mayweather from time to time.
Mayweather was absolutely dominant at the lower weight classes, and he probably would have developed a greater legacy if he chose to defend his belt a hundred times as opposed to skipping around. Now he has no choice but to fight against big name opponents, even if they are beyond their prime or in retirement. This creates a false sense of greatness, meaning he has to continue to fight after his desired declaration of retirement in order to build up "proof" that he is great. Had he stayed at a lower weight class and continued to dominate, I don't think that anyone would question his greatness.
It's also going to be more difficult for him to fall back down in weight, as was the case with Roy Jones Jr. after coming back down from heavyweight: he was never the same again.
I guess what I'm saying is, he may have actually hurt his legacy by jumping up in weight to fight De La Hoya, when there was plenty of good competition for him to potentially dominate for years to come, even if the names weren't technically as big. Now he will participate in a bunch of lackluster fights against post or near-retirement opponents, simply because they are big names.
P.S. Simply "calling out" a fighter's name during a press-conference does not mean that Mayweather was actually calling them out. He does like to talk after all.
P.P.S. I personally think Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a great pound-for-pound fighter; perhaps top 25 all-time; so don't assume I'm hating. I happen to find some of his earlier fights to be masterpieces, just not in the same way that other people do. (ie: not doing anything doesn't automatically indicate a defensive "master)
Floyd has excellent hand speed, as well as decent accuracy. He also possesses evasiveness and swift ring movement. These skills allowed Mayweather to counter-punch effectively and score in bursts against his slower opponents. Since becoming one of the top fighters in the world, he has allowed these skills to fade in favor of forcing a stale, one-punch-at-a-time fight. Those of us who have watched him have noticed this.
Against De La Hoya, there would not have been a fight if Oscar hadn't pressed Mayweather from time to time.
Mayweather was absolutely dominant at the lower weight classes, and he probably would have developed a greater legacy if he chose to defend his belt a hundred times as opposed to skipping around. Now he has no choice but to fight against big name opponents, even if they are beyond their prime or in retirement. This creates a false sense of greatness, meaning he has to continue to fight after his desired declaration of retirement in order to build up "proof" that he is great. Had he stayed at a lower weight class and continued to dominate, I don't think that anyone would question his greatness.
It's also going to be more difficult for him to fall back down in weight, as was the case with Roy Jones Jr. after coming back down from heavyweight: he was never the same again.
I guess what I'm saying is, he may have actually hurt his legacy by jumping up in weight to fight De La Hoya, when there was plenty of good competition for him to potentially dominate for years to come, even if the names weren't technically as big. Now he will participate in a bunch of lackluster fights against post or near-retirement opponents, simply because they are big names.
P.S. Simply "calling out" a fighter's name during a press-conference does not mean that Mayweather was actually calling them out. He does like to talk after all.
P.P.S. I personally think Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a great pound-for-pound fighter; perhaps top 25 all-time; so don't assume I'm hating. I happen to find some of his earlier fights to be masterpieces, just not in the same way that other people do. (ie: not doing anything doesn't automatically indicate a defensive "master)
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