By Chris Williams: Floyd Mayweather Jr. feels that he’s a better fighter than Shane Mosley, “Sugar” Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali. On Thursday’s teleconference, the 33-year-old Mayweather, who had previously mentioned that he thought he was better than Robinson (173-19-6, 108 KO’s) and Ali (56-5, 37 KO’s) on the HBO Mayweather-Mosley 24/7 episode 2, said “Things change. It’s out with the old and in with the new. Muhammad Ali was one hell of a fighter, but Floyd Mayweather is the best…I got respect for Sugar Ray Robinson.
I got respect for Muhammad Ali. But I’m a man just like them and put on my pants just like they put on their pants. But what makes them any better than me?” Mayweather is facing Shane Mosley on May 1st at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight has importance in that Mayweather needs the win to get a chance at a huge money fight with World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao in the future.
Mayweather also would need the win for him to be considered in the same class as Ali and Robinson. It’s hard to imagine how Mayweather can see himself as better than either Robinson or Ali, as Mayweather hasn’t really had any career defining fights during his career. That is one thing that would make it hard to compare Mayweather to Robinson and Ali. The closest thing that you could consider a career defining fight for Mayweather is his bout against an older, some say shot, 35-year-old Oscar De La Hoya in 2007.
When saying he thinks he’s better than Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson, Mayweather obviously is talking about his talent and not his accomplishments, because he clearly hasn’t accomplished the same things that either Ali or Robinson did. However, it’s difficult to consider Mayweather a better fighter than either Ali or Robinson because due to the absence of level opponents. The fact of the matter is that fighters are measured how they do against other excellent fighters.
And if they’re missing quality opposition on their resume, then it’s not easy for boxing experts to see them as being truly great. Mayweather hasn’t helped himself by being too selective when choosing opponents and also by picking out fighters smaller than himself like he’s done recently with his choice of Ricky Hatton and Juan Manuel Marquez as opponents. Mayweather had a chance to fight Manny Pacquiao recently, but that fight didn’t happen because Mayweather decided that he wanted both fighters to take random blood tests and that got in the way of making the fight.
Mayweather had this to say about Mosley: “I don’t know how Mosley can call himself great or say he’s a future Hall of Famer because we don’t know how long this guy was taking enhancement drugs.” Mosley, however, has had a number of quality fights during his career against Oscar De La Hoya, Vernon Forrest, Antonio Margarito, Miguel Cotto and Winky Wright. Mosley hasn’t always won them, but he’s faced the best during his career and shown himself willing to take the best fighters.
There’s an argument that can be made that Mayweather hasn’t always done this, as he never fought guys Cotto, Margarito, Andre Berto, Kostya Tszyu or Pacquiao. Mayweather could change that might fighting some of them now, but that remains to be seen whether that will actually happen. Many boxing fans have doubts that Mayweather will ever fight Pacquiao because of his insistence on Pacquiao agreeing to take the random blood tests.
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