https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wsB-t57tFE
By Leigh K. Seto: I recently read an article that stated from Floyd Mayweather Jr. that he is better than the great Muhammad Ali. My first reaction was that this statement was laughable, but then I thought I should take a moment to delve into this subject.
I have to start with analyzing “Pound for Pound” champion. The term was created years ago to which you could compare fighters of different weight classes. Sugar Ray Robinson could therefore be compared to Rocky Marciano and Joe Lewis it was something fun and could lead to what every fan likes debate!
That being said I took exception to Floyd Mayweather Jr’s take on the matter and I want to make sure we clear the air on this subject.
I am 5’10 and as a younger man I was a decent basketball player. Now lets say there was a basketball league for only 5’10 basketball players and I was great, to the point I was considered the greatest 5’10 player in the world (Pretty Good Accomplishment!). Yes, that would put me a distinct category and one should feel proud of that. But now lets say I publicly come out and say, “Forget Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Lebron James.. NO I AM THE GREATEST BASKETBALL PLAYER EVER”. People would laugh and ridicule me to the point I would crawl into a hole and bury myself. It’s ridiculous! There is only one weight division that anyone can fight in its called the Heavyweight division. ANYONE can participate in that class regardless of weight or height. To that point Muhammad Ali was outweighed by 10 lbs and sometime 25 lbs in many of his fights. Where the lower divisions obviously control the weight of the competitors. Mayweather is a little guy that’s really good at beating other little guys. But lets stick to facts, he is smaller than the average weight of the average American Woman. I’m the same age as Floyd and I don’t have one friend that’s near the 145 lb Welterweight limit I doubt any of you do! Most of the men I know have not been that weight since they were 14 years old, myself included.
I also thought about a guy like Mike Tyson who is now 50, hasn’t fought in 15 years and lost his last 4 fights by being knocked out. Mayweather couldn’t last ONE round against an old has-been that is barely 2 inches taller than him. Mike was giving up as much as 7 inches and 25 pounds to much larger Heavyweights in his career.
So, this wasn’t meant to bash Mayweather’s legacy I just wanted it to put in perspective. He’s a great fighter and will retire as one of the top lightweights of all time. That says so much and he should be very proud of this accomplishment. But please the “Pound for Pound” terminology needs to buried in a capsule and put away. It’s embarrassing. It’s been taken out of context in this day and age. It’s no longer a way to compare different weight classes, it’s now a measuring stick of who is definitely the best and that is not why it was created. There is a noisy poodle who lives next door to me that my 90 lb German Shepard would love to play like a chew toy. Now that poodle may be smarter than my dog, faster than my dog and be more aggressive than my dog, But it will never be a better fighter than my dog. Part of the greatness of MJ, Kobe and Lebron is that they are all tall men and that is not a negative thing. Don’t count the size of Ali against him he would fight anyone, of any size Big or Small that is why he’s great. With NO CATCH-WEIGHTS. He is and will always be the Greatest!!
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