By Gav Duthie: Floyd Mayweather finished his career winning the battle of boxing against UFC and an “unparalleled” 50-0 (27) record breaking stretch. I for one feel Floyd Mayweather’s legacy stands with his level of victories, world titles through 5 weight classes and not the number.
Floyd however the master marketer has made the 50 into a big deal and now there is a scramble to beat it. Little known minimum weight Thai boxer Wanheng ‘The Wolf’ Menayothin 49-0 (17) has received some publicity as he closes in on the seemingly elusive number. Deontay Wilder has also claimed that he will beat the record in time of that he has no doubt. There are a few points that need to be challenged. Is this a record? Will we get boxers padding their resume just to beat it? When will it be beaten and how important will that event be?
Mayweather marketer
Aside from the boxing Floyd’s legacy is undoubtedly his ability to market himself and make money. Some of the greatest boxers of all time didn’t make what they deserved, and some are broke. Mayweather created many alter-egos ‘Pretty Boy’, ‘Money’, ‘TBE’ (The Best Ever) and the 50-0 record is one of them. Floyd is a top all-time fighter, but I would say the likes of Terrence Crawford is just as good. Crawford however won’t earn a tenth of what Floyd did. What I’m getting at is that Floyd ‘The master promoter’ created another alter ego in this record when in fact it isn’t really a record at all. Yes, Mayweather retires with 50 wins and nobody has expired their career with more victories without losses, technically it’s a record but it’s a point of view. Had these numbers ever meant anything before then 50 would have not been near record breaking.
Other records
Jimmy Wilde 93-0-1 (lost to Tancy Lee)
Ricardo Lopez 51-0-1 (Drew with Rosendo Alvarez)
Julio Cesar Chavez 87-0 (Drew with Pernell Whitaker)
Yori Boy Campos 56-0 (lost to Felix Trinidad)
Willie Pep 62-0 (lost to Sammy Angnott)
Ricardo Lopez retired with a record of 51-0-1 with his only blemish a TD in the 8th round against Rosendo Alvarez and he won the rematch. Can Floyd really claim that what he did was better in terms of numbers alone? Julio Cesar Chavez won a further 37 fights more than Floyd and he could have retired at any time before he drew with Pernell Whitaker then lost to Frankie Randall a few fights later.
The record breaker – Wanheng Menayothin 49-0 (17)
The man in question that could beat Floyd’s record in 2018 is Wanheng Menayothin. In truth before the news he had got to 49-0 I had never heard of him. It’s embarrassing considering my dedication to boxing. If Floyd hadn’t created this fallacy that 50 straight wins was a record. Menayothin is the WBC minimumweight champion and has successfully defended his title 8 times.
False record?
As well as the 8 defences Menayothin has defeated a further 5 opponents in non-title bouts. These wins are:
Ardi Buyung 2-4
Eddo Anggoro 7-5
Silem Serang 7-8-1
Jaysever Abcede 13-5
Jack Amisa 21-44-2
(Records at time of fight)
Clearly Menayothin’s record is padded. He clearly likes to stay busy between title fights. Given the fact that he has only boxed in one weight class (the lowest) and that he probably doesn’t make much money I doubt he made these fights with a record in mind. Finally, after 49 victories people are starting to hear who he is. Does he deserve the plaudits if he beats the record? Your damn ‘RIGHT’ he does. Floyd Mayweather probably wipes his backside with more money than Menayothin has ever made in his career.
Beating the record
The WBC has mandated that Menayothin defend his title against #1 contender Panamanian Leroy Estrada 16-2 (6). Boxrec has Estrada at #3 in the division although his record isn’t particularly impressive. In an ideal world Menayothin would equal Mayweather’s 50 fight streak beating Estrada then would try to beat it with a unification bout against compatriot and WBA minimumweight champion Thammanoon Niyomtrong 16-0 (7) AKA (Knockout CP Freshmart). I would hope that a top promoter or network in America would cover the bout if it had record breaking potential. If Menayothin isn’t going to get paid well for his endeavors I hope he gives this record the contempt it deserves and knockout a couple more journeyman to be a record breaker because it won’t be long before someone else pads a record to beat it again.