A Conversation About Mayweathers Career

[BigReg]

Originally Posted by acb_

Now that we can do this without the trolls, money figures, dates, etc... it would be nice to talk about Mayweathers career and our general impressions of it. I think he is really retired-- unlike a lot of posters-- and dont see him coming back.

I found his lack of desire to take on the best at the end of his career to be his biggest downfall as a boxer and representative as the p4p number 1. All numbers and dates aside, he just didnt have a burning desire to fight the best at 147lbs, and if he did it would have been an incredible ride given all the talent at the weight. I feel that if he would have taken even two of the group (Cotto, Margo, Williams, Mosley. etc) that the division would have really opened up and others may have been required to match his openess to big challenges in order to make a name for themselves and stay in the mix. This competitiveness always rubs off in sports, as does lack thereof. When Mayweather resorted to posturing and degrading boxers outside of the ring rather than just beating them inside of it its slowed the fray at the weight.

As a whole, his career provided several amazing nights. His fights with Corrales, Chavez, Judah, Hatton, and even Ndou were very entertaining. His idea for 24-7 was a great one and it will help promote boxing in the future. He is currently a little underated in the H2H sense against boxers of past eras and his abilities would have given anyone from 130lbs to 135lbs a deep run.

Anyways, not that we havent discussed this before, but its the train that always runs off the tracks. Everyone here has the maturity to give an honest opinion and not resort to b.s., so I thought it was worth opening the door to discuss this again, given this is the current eras best.

I have to pretty much agree with you here. From 130-140 I thought he was willing to take on pretty much anybody. I saw very little weaknesses in his game at those weights. The guy could do everything. 147 was a bit of a dissapointment. Judah losing to Baldo and Mosely taking the rest of the year off after the second Vargas fight really hurt him legacy wise there. He could've also helped himself out by fighting Margo instead of Mitchell and fighting Cotto after the Hatton fight. He does that, and there really is nothing to compalin about in terms of his career. I still think he's somewhere in the top 50 or so all time. He could definately be in the top 25 if he had wins over Margo, Mosely, Cotto, as well as an undisputed crown at 147.

[jecxbox]

Originally Posted by BigReg

I have to pretty much agree with you here. From 130-140 I thought he was willing to take on pretty much anybody. I saw very little weaknesses in his game at those weights. The guy could do everything. 147 was a bit of a dissapointment. Judah losing to Baldo and Mosely taking the rest of the year off after the second Vargas fight really hurt him legacy wise there. He could've also helped himself out by fighting Margo instead of Mitchell and fighting Cotto after the Hatton fight. He does that, and there really is nothing to compalin about in terms of his career. I still think he's somewhere in the top 50 or so all time. He could definately be in the top 25 if he had wins over Margo, Mosely, Cotto, as well as an undisputed crown at 147.

And basically the reason why there is something to "complain" is because his talent is so high that you expect more from him. If he was a little bit more of an average fighter we'd all be satisfied with what hes done to this point, but hes not - and he certainly doesn't carry himself like an average fighter either. I seriously love watching Floyd fight, not only because he portrays himself as the 'villian', but because at this point he'd have the ability to build a real legendary career...And we don't get to see those all to very often.

[acb_]

Originally Posted by BigReg

I have to pretty much agree with you here. From 130-140 I thought he was willing to take on pretty much anybody. I saw very little weaknesses in his game at those weights. The guy could do everything. 147 was a bit of a dissapointment. Judah losing to Baldo and Mosely taking the rest of the year off after the second Vargas fight really hurt him legacy wise there. He could've also helped himself out by fighting Margo instead of Mitchell and fighting Cotto after the Hatton fight. He does that, and there really is nothing to compalin about in terms of his career. I still think he's somewhere in the top 50 or so all time. He could definately be in the top 25 if he had wins over Margo, Mosely, Cotto, as well as an undisputed crown at 147.

Reg, very happy to see you here.

[Illmatic]

for the life of me I cannot understand how fighting a top 10 p4p, undisputed champion as his last fight isn;t "fighting the best"

[DanePugilist]

I see it the same way as ACB - even if KG is correct in many ways concerning his opponents and how PBF will be regarded in the future, I still feel that he never made the best of his natural born gifts - other than looking awesome in alot of his fights.

I still feel that Oscar was his most difficult fight on the card, considering he moved up so much in weight, the ring and glove size. Having Castillo and Corrales as his other most difficult fights shows to me that somewhere lost momentum to insure greatness.

Had he fought Hatton at 140 that would have improved my view as well.

Maybe I am just too hard on him, but I think people who has such great skillsets shouldn't be "afraid" of showing it in fights that could be stylisically wrong for them.

[Illmatic]

Originally Posted by DanePugilist

I see it the same way as ACB - even if KG is correct in many ways concerning his opponents and how PBF will be regarded in the future, I still feel that he never made the best of his natural born gifts - other than looking awesome in alot of his fights.

I still feel that Oscar was his most difficult fight on the card, considering he moved up so much in weight, the ring and glove size. Having Castillo and Corrales as his other most difficult fights shows to me that somewhere lost momentum to insure greatness.

Had he fought Hatton at 140 that would have improved my view as well.

Maybe I am just too hard on him, but I think people who has such great skillsets shouldn't be "afraid" of showing it in fights that could be stylisically wrong for them.

Hatton refused to fight him, what was he to do? He went on to a bigger challenge and became the welterweight champion and took the fight everyone wanted him to take- Judah. Yeah Judah lost after he signed to fight Mayweather, but that's no fault of Floyd.

What style is exactly stylistically wrong for him? Everyone says the same thing, you beat Mayweather with pressure, neglecting the fact that EVERY fighter tries to pressure him, with the same result.,