By Dave Lahr: In a shocking revelation from Floyd Mayweather Jr., he admitted that he has to fight some other fighters to be considered one of the best fighters. “There are a few more guys I have to beat in my era for people to say that Floyd Mayweather was the best. There’s no doubt that they are going to say that when I’ve beaten the guys I’ve got to beat.”
I wonder who these fighters might be. Maybe there’s another old super featherweight or two Mayweather can dig up for fights and then claim that he’s the best in the sport. If Mayweather is serious about wanting to fight a few more guys to be considered the best, I hope Floyd is referring to fighters like Miguel Cotto, Paul Williams, Shane Mosley and Antonio Margarito. Because if Mayweather is thinking something else, like Manny Pacquiao, Humberto Soto, Edwin Valero, Jorge Linares, Amir Khan or Timothy Bradley, then I think Mayweather is kidding himself.
Mayweather won’t get the credit he’s looking for by beating those kinds of fighters because they are, like his last two opponents, smaller fighters. Mayweather has to start looking for opponents his own size. He can’t keep combing the lower ranks in search for the perfect small guy to fight.
Mayweather can that, of course. He can do anything he wants, but he isn’t going to get credit for it from knowledgeable boxing fans. The casual boxing fans might get excited about him beating these guys, but then again, they wonder about why Mayweather is always small guys.
While he’s at it, Mayweather needs to look for some younger fighters than 36-year-old Marquez. Mayweather already fought an old Oscar De La Hoya in 2007, and here he is again pulling an old guy out of the pack to fight. I wouldn’t mind Mayweather fighting an old guy if it was someone like Shane Mosley or Bernard Hopkins. At least those guys have the size to compete with Mayweather.
“I don’t want to just go down in the Hall of Fame with some saying I was one of the best, I want everyone to say Floyd was the best,” Mayweather says. That sounds really impressive, but I doubt Mayweather was serious. If he was, then why did he waste valuable time fighting a small guy like Marquez rather than Cotto or Mosley?
If Mayweather wanted a tune-up fight, why not fight someone like Luis Collazo, Joshua Clottey, Jesus Soto Karass or Selcuk Aydin instead of a lightweight? At least those guys are welterweights and would have the size and reach to land shots.
Beating up a lightweight isn’t something that is going to impress boxing fans. Mayweather has got to step up and fight someone his own size or bigger. And I count fighting Manny Pacquiao as something that will make Mayweather look great in the boxing public’s mind. If Mayweather can’t beat a small super featherweight like Pacquiao, then he needs to seriously hang up the gloves because he will have obviously lost his skills.
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