By Donnell Young: I know that many of the Floyd Mayweather Jr. “haters” will not like this article, but I am a realist and must call it how I see it. First of all, the most important principle in the sport of boxing is to hit and not be hit. If there is anyone in the history of the sport that does it better than Mayweather Jr and still racks up the victories, I haven’t seen or heard of him.
The skill with which Mayweather dismantles his opponents is truly one of a kind. Many people like to criticize the opponents that Mayweather steps into the ring with, but most of the time it is fueled by hypocrisy and hatred. I say this because the same people who talk down on him after the fight are the same ones that say things before the fight like, “this guy is going to beat Floyd,” or “This will be the toughest test of his career.”
When Mayweather makes these opponents look like amateurs, they begin fishing for comments to downplay the greatness they have just witnessed. You hear things like, “he ran all night” or “that guy isn’t very good and Floyd was supposed to win.” The fact of the matter is that these people put Floyd in a no win situation.
If Mayweather uses his legs and takes away his opponent’s best weapon, he is “scared to fight and runs too much.” If he stays in the pocket and takes a little punishment then, “he has lost a step and isn’t as good as he once was. This blasphemous reasoning was disproved in his last two fights. Against a stellar fighter in Miguel Cotto, he fought at close quarters, took punishment and still came away victorious. After the fight, you heard the Mayweather “haters” saying that he was old, couldn’t move anymore, and is vulnerable to taking his first defeat. Then he fought a young, hungry fighter in Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero.
I knew when the fight was made that it would be a walk in the park for Floyd, but many people seemed to believe that Guerrero’s come forward, pressure style would give Mayweather the type of problems he hadn’t seen since Jose Luis Castillo. Once again, he put on a masterful performance and was virtually untouchable. After the fight, we heard the same responses from the anti-Floyd crowd that we have heard for years, “he ran all night.” These fans seem to think that taking punishment is a prerequisite for being a professional boxer. I must remind these folks that there is a huge difference between being a boxer and being a fighter. Most fighters only step up their pace in a match when they have been hit and must retaliate. Boxers are the complete opposite. They avoid getting hit and dish out punishment a la Floyd Meaweather Jr.
This leads me to his next fight against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. There is no doubt that Canelo is a young, skilled fighter, but I see nothing in his skill set that will give Floyd problems. Does he have what it takes to knock off the all time great that is Floyd Mayweather Jr.? Oscar De La Hoya seems to think so, which isn’t saying much. Oscar is making the same statements about Alvarez that he made about Victor Ortiz and Robert Guerrero. We all saw how those fights played out. De La Hoya seems to still be bitter about his loss to Floyd and is searching high and low for someone who may be able to beat him. I personally think that Oscar’s latest Mayweather Jr. “killer” will come up short just like he and the rest of his prospects have. It’s plain and simple; you have to be a truly special fighter to beat Floyd because he is just that.
I am not saying that Canelo does not have a chance. This is boxing and one punch can end a fight abruptly. Saul has that kind of power. The question is whether or not he has the ability to get that punch to the target. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t. Given the history of Mayweather’s career I have to say he doesn’t. How many times have we heard that his next opponent has the power to turn his lights out only for said opponent to never land a meaningful punch? After this win over Alvarez on Sept 14, I hope that the Mayweather “haters” can see him for what he really is, possibly the G.O.A.T.
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