Floyd Mayweather Jr. – Three Names from Greatness

By Boxing News - 09/21/2009 - Comments

mayweather53434By Elad Baron: Watching Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the early hours of Sunday morning one thing was clear, the natural abilities of the man can never be questioned. His, balance, reflexes and technique are second to none; add to that his water tight defence. Love him or hate him, every boxing fan had to appreciate the display of skill that was on show.

All that said, there is one thing that Floyd is still to display to the ever watching boxing fan and that is heart and guts… Marquez is a great fighter, one of the best of the last ten years, but he is no welterweight. They could have fought a hundred rounds and Floyd would have won every one of them. This was always a clever piece of public relations work by Mayweather.

A top ranked P4P fighter, a Mexican legend but most importantly someone he can beat comprehensively and try to demonstrate the difference in class between him and the rest.

Ironically, however, the welterweight division is probably the most competitive in boxing and has been for the last five years or so. In addition to Mayweather, you have Cotto, Mosley and Paul Williams, who are considered world class and would make most peoples top 10 p4p list. Less we forget about the recently disgraced Margarito, the ever present Joshua Clottey and Andre Berto, who are all dangerous fighters. With all these names around, this division should be providing up to five great fights a year. And yet, Mayweather, who comes in at welterweight level despite a catch weight limit proving beyond doubt that he is in-fact a true welter and the self proclaimed p4p number, has not thrown a punch in anger against any of the aforementioned fighters. He can’t even claim to be the best in his division.

The three names that stand out are Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley and Paul Williams. Cotto and Mosley have had wars against each other and Antonio Margarito in the past two years. And Cotto can add Joshua Clottey to his list while Mosley will be facing him shortly. Williams, on the other hand, is the most ducked fighter around having to step up in weight to get any action. Who would want to fight a 6’1″ monster that comes down on you with a hundred punches a round, and also has a victory against Margarito and most recently Winky Wright.

Fighting Manny Pacquiao will prove nothing other than Mayweather can beat up on a naturally smaller man. Manny is a great fighter in his own right but I believe is riding the wave of beating a shot De La Hoya and a past his best Ricky Hatton. Pacquiao would get found out with regards to his size against Floyd.

If Mayweather truly wants to earn the true status of legend, he will have to fight the top guys in his weight class. And when Mayweather is tested by a big guy reigning powerful punches down on him for three minutes of every round, will he have the heart to stay in there? Oscar could only do it in flurries due to his age, and lacked the power to inflict any damage. But even so, many have De La Hoya as the winner of that particular encounter.

In conclusion, Cotto should he come through Pacquiao, Mosley and for me the most dangerous of the lot, Paul Williams. If Mayweather can go through these and keep his ‘0,’ then his status as one of the all time greats will be secure. Until then, he’s just a savvy businessman with some great boxing skills.



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