By Philip Green: Floyd Mayweather Jr is unquestionably a great boxer and amongst the current crop of pound for pound stars, but an all time great he most definitely is not in my view. Not only do I see his record lacking much of the credible opposition that could accord him such lofty status, he is symptomatic of the over-hyped and underachieving American boxers of the modern era. In recent years, Floyd has shown little signs to challenging himself in the way that has endeared rival Manny Pacquiao to so many supporters worldwide and has instead left fans to repeat the absurd assumption that ‘he would have probably beaten him anyway.’
Although their styles occupy opposing ends of the boxing spectrum, the hype surrounding Mayweather reminds me very much of Prince Nameem Hamed. The aura of invincibility vanished after Naz’s first defeat and I think Mayweather’s enormous ego would cause him to suffer a similar fate. Before the Barrera fight ‘The Prince’ floated to the ring in a metal cage, to which HBO commentator Larry Merchant exclaimed, ‘I love guys who are willing to put themselves out on the line’. Sure, Naz left the arena in something resembling a body bag, but at least he tried.
What was arguably Mayweather’s career defining fight against Ricky Hatton was put in to context by Pacquiao within two rounds and left Floyd futilely claiming to have provided the ‘blueprint’ for defeating the Brit. Hatton showed heart and tenacity to step up and challenge at 147 pounds, ‘Money’ in contrast chose to retire from boxing after this fight and take on WWE’s ‘Big Show’. After his self imposed exile he returned against Juan Manuel Marquez, a pumped up Super featherweight who confessed to drinking his own urine. It’s fortunate Floyd’s diva like pre-fight demands did not include random urine testing, because there would have been none left!
I see Mayweather’s fame as largely based on his record breaking 2007 fight against Oscar de la Hoya and role as pantomime villain on HBO’s new 24/7 series. Whilst Floyd played the part perfectly, De la Hoya was already the pay per view king having amassed over 10 million career sales. His bout with Felix Trinidad eight years earlier sold to over 1.5 million viewers and this was before he had even founded Golden boy Promotions.
Don’t get me wrong, I accept that Floyd possesses incredible boxing ability but the hyperbole surrounding his greatness is becoming detached from reality. Until he exhibits the true heart and courage of a champion, he simply does not deserve to be considered within the upper echelons of the sport in my view. After becoming World Champion at 22 and claiming ‘I am the greatest’, Cassius Clay (Mohammad Ali) went on to prove this throughout the course of his career. Floyd Mayweather Jr is yet to do this.
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