The famous American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. once again attracted attention with an ambiguous statement. In an interview, Mayweather called himself the greatest boxer in boxing history.
“Actually, I’m still the face of boxing. “I would like to express my gratitude to guys like Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali and Ray Leonard, a lot of guys paved the way for me, but there is only one Floyd Mayweather, and these fighters are no better than me,” Mayweather said. in an interview with the YouTube channel The Pivot Podcast.
Floyd has repeatedly tried to talk about this topic, but each time it comes off as ridiculous and provokes a negative reaction from the boxing community. So, Mike Tyson once spoke quite precisely on the topic of why he does not consider Mayweather the best boxer in the world.
Floyd Mayweather
Photo: Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images
“You know, there are some personalities in boxing… No matter how great they were in their time, they will never reach the status of the greatest. Although they made incredible amounts of money, they were no match for Julio César Chávez. He understands that in this case money is not the indicator. It is for this reason that I no longer want to hear Floyd Mayweather praise his record, I don’t want to hear him brag about his 50-0 record,” Tyson said.
Floyd has truly reached unprecedented heights in boxing and deserves his place in history. He has never lost in the professional ring and this is a great achievement. But the truth is that Tyson is right in his statement. Floyd is a very astute fighter and his team did a tremendous job keeping him “zero” in the loss column. They tried to select suitable opponents for Mayweather at the convenient time and avoided serious challenges in which there was a risk of losing.
On Floyd’s controversial victories:
Video
Even his father admitted Mayweather’s defeat. Did the judges steal from De La Hoya?
Of course, you can’t take away from Floyd the fact that he won all of his fights. But there is also something to be said for the style with which Mayweather boxed, and this is the second reason why he can hardly be called the greatest boxer of all time. Floyd was a very fast boxer, with excellent footwork and excellent technique. But at the same time he chose the safest and most pragmatic counterpunching style: he gave the initiative to his opponent, he was able to run away from his opponent during the 12 rounds, simply throwing from afar due to the speed and length of his arms. and take the fight on points. The clearest example is the fight against Manny Pacquiao, in which Floyd surrounded the Filipino’s ring, kept his distance and stayed trapped in the clinch at the slightest danger. Mayweather took the fight by decision, causing great outrage among spectators, who called this fight almost the fight of the century.
And there are a lot of such fights in Mayweather’s career. Yes, he went into the ring and did his job, but at the same time the spectators on the screens and in the hall, who paid a lot of money, which later made Floyd himself the richest athlete, are indignant or openly fall asleep. . Mayweather went down in boxing history thanks to his record, but not thanks to outstanding fights.
Mayweather continues to make money from exhibition fights:
Wealth is nothing, money is everything! Dollars are a religion for Mayweather, but nothing is sacred there
Unlike the other great boxers. “Rumble in the Jungle”, “Thriller in Manila” – even if you don’t like boxing, you have probably heard the names of these legendary battles of Muhammad Ali, thanks to which he is considered the greatest. Mohammed gave boxing fans not only brilliant fights, but also that recognizable technique when he fluttered like a butterfly and sting like a bee. Ali doesn’t have a perfect record, but he never sought to keep his “0” in the loss column.
Or, for example, Mike Tyson himself. Iron Mike has six losses in his career, but even in Mike’s last fights, when he was clearly in decline, the arenas where he performed were packed with spectators and millions of fans watched the fights on the screens.
The love of the public cannot be bought with a boring counterattack style. It’s impossible to be the best boxer when, in the biggest fight of your career, you’re simply pedaling a bicycle through all 12 rounds, running away from your opponent.
Floyd kept his “zero”, and this, without exaggeration, is a great sporting achievement. But this record did not make him the best boxer of all time. And Mayweather can give at least a thousand interviews on this topic, shout at every corner about his greatness, but he never received the love of the public and the love of boxing connoisseurs. And without it, his sporting successes pale in comparison to the achievements of other legendary boxers to whom he compares himself.
