By John Simmons: On May 2nd of 2015 we will witness the biggest showdown in Boxing since Iron Mike Tyson fought Lennox Lewis for the Heavyweight championship of the world on the 8th June 2002.
Along with all great spectacles in sports entertainment we usually see records broken and legends created, when Floyd Mayweather Jr. enters the ring on the 2nd of May he will be neck and neck with the golden boy Oscar De La Hoya for major world titles won in the sport of boxing.
While Manny Pacquiao has managed seven major titles in his eight divisions beating Mayweather will still leave Manny one title short of De La Hoya and Mayweather who both reign supreme with ten major titles a piece.
Mayweather will ultimately go one title clear of Oscar De La Hoya with one fight remaining on his contract with Showtime if he overcomes Manny next month, Floyd Mayweather may well choose to win another title by facing off with Kell Brook for the unified welterweight division and create a gap between himself and the golden boy.
There has never been an undefeated champion with ten major world titles in boxing history although if Mayweather remains undefeated May 2nd then we will have witnessed the only undefeated eleven time world champion in five divisions in the history of boxing. Mayweather’s passion to fight for major world titles has been well known since he began in 1996, he has managed to capture seven WBC titles two WBA titles and one IBF title in his career hoping to add the Manny’s WBO title to his waist as well.
Add to this accolade there has never been a fighter to top the pound for pound rankings as many times as Mayweather Jr. since the inception of the ranking system in 1989. With the most number one spots in the 2000’s Mayweather is on track to close out the 2010’s as well with a Manny win Floyd will have sat atop the rankings a staggering four times this decade at the half way point.
With a super featherweight record of 27-0 and nine successful defences of the WBC Super Featherweight champion belt coupled with a record of 10-0 in the welterweight division unifying the Welterweight and Super welterweight divisions simultaneously Mayweather affectionately calls himself the best ever.
Mayweather has managed to use his intelligence to make minor ripples in the sport of boxing that have become large waves of eye opening experiences for boxers all around the world. Never before have we seen a boxer on the cover of Forbes magazine and with an estimated worth of just over $300 Million Mayweather could be half way to a Billion dollars come the end of May.
Boxers are now paying attention to the finer details in their contract and negotiating better deals with promoters and television networks to showcase their skill sets. Whilst we still have the boxers that want to put on a show and go punch for punch in the middle of the ring in order to win the admiration of fans that have no care for them what is so ever you can definitely see the tides changing.
More and more fighters are using the smart logical way to winning like Floyd Mayweather has done in the latter stages of his career. Mayweather has said on many occasions I’ll box and if the knockout is there I’ll take it, however as Keith Thurman alerted to “Floyd Mayweather is the best seven round fighter in the world” perhaps ever. Mayweather sees boxing as a chess game he notes a guys background and skill set if the guy has been stopped before and has a weak chin he presses the action and goes for the knockout, if the guy has a hard chin and has never been down or knocked out he figures why risk breaking my hand going for the knockout when I can win seven rounds and close the fight out unharmed and one win richer.
We now see the likes of Keith Thurman opting to play it safe and realise when he’s pressing it to hard for a knockout against a guy that’s never been stopped or even Manny himself going with the more conservative approach to win rounds rather than expose his chin in the early rounds something that took a Marquez KO to remind him how easy it is.
Love him or hate him Mayweather Junior has managed to find his way to your thoughts whether good or bad. If Floyd is successful on May 2nd against Manny Pacquiao the fighter of the last decade and eight division champion will he be considered the greatest fighter of this generation?
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