By Mike Burnell: The attention of boxing today is squarely focused on the Welterweights with good reason. Though the gladiators of the division may be small in stature they effortlessly eclipse all other divisions and completely embarrass boxing’s supposed glamor (now in shambles) division, the Heavyweights. Simply put; it the most talent saturated Welter division since the Leonard-Hearns era. It is in a competitive landscape that true all time greats had the opportunity to reveal their championship character.
Had prime Muhammad Ali toiled in the pre-Tyson drought he would never have had the opportunity to prove his greatness by meeting every fighter from mediocre to All Time Great tough guys Liston, Frazier, Foreman etc to ultimately prove that he is truly worth his moniker of “The Greatest.” He called it and he walked it. There is a quote “….it ain’t bragging if you can back it up”…
An unprecedented level of competition provides a boxer a chance to the dominant and be recognized as “great”. This determination is made by the fans, not HBO, Showtime or the athlete himself. Ali called himself the “Greatest” and emphatically proved it by defeating almost half of the generally accepted top 10 all time greats as well as histories hardest punchers, defeating them all. In short, he dared to be great.
It is drama and fiery dispute that separates and simultaneously unites fight fans to keep a supposedly dying sport alive and well. Let’s play a game and see if you can guess the individual fighters. My guess is that even a vaguely knowledgeably fan will have no problem. “He took steroids”..“He’s a freakishly tall”.. “He’s too popular and makes people negotiate”.. “He got busted cheating so he must have done the same when he beat XYZ”.. “He fights handpicked opponents” (Ok the last one is a trick question, it applies to all of the current crop)…
It was said that Dempsey is called a draft dodger, wife beater (later cleared) and a bigot, Clay was a draft dodger, Marciano never fought anyone, Holmes (who is second to Joe Louis in title defenses) had soft opposition, LaMotta could only take those punches because he sold his sole to the Devil (or Blinky Palermo, what’s the difference?). It is through open discussion and fiery debate that their respective places in history are determined.
Enter self proclaimed All Time Great Floyd “Money” Mayweather. His Welterweight history has been decision wins over “Chop Chop” Corley and Carlos Baldomir. He also had stoppage wins over Sharmba Mitchell, much missed Arturo Gatti, useful Zab Judah, and Ricky Hatton. Note: The focus is the Welterweight division. Floyd defeated DeLa Hoya via disputed decision at 154, outside of the 147 Welter limit. (Truthfully, I don’t understand the dispute. For the record, I was pulling for De La Hoya).
Floyd is far from a great fighter at this point. Money doesn’t equate greatness (see the many boxers who died without a penny. They are great for something that can’t be bought or marketed. They are great because they fought everyone. It wasn’t unusual to see fight the same guy several time in the same year while today’s fighters may fight three times a year if they are active. And considering his competition, he may not even be the best of the past five years. The landscape, however, is arranged to provide that opportunity. Proportionately it is the perfect storm. The welterweight environment is perfect for a fighter of his bravado to emboss his seal on the division and establish himself as the one we will view as dominant 10 years from now. It can not be assumed that he shouldn’t fight (enter fighter here) because he is just too good. Don’t let him hide behind the mandatories and whatever fraudulent piece of tin they offer.
Does Floyd have the potential to be great? Possibly. Does Floyd dare to be great? I don’t think so.
For the sake of boxing I will be glad to be wrong…
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