Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s boxing skills are complete. His defense is impregnable. His accuracy is uncanny.
“Money” Mayweather’s performance versus the Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero last weekend was beautiful and brilliant. No, it wasn’t an exciting, rock ‘em, sock ‘em affair, but for those who appreciate the craft of boxing, the pound for pound king’s performance was nearly perfect.
By the time the two combatants came into the “championship” rounds, Mayweather had put so many rounds in the bank, he could neglect to throw a single punch and still won easily on the scorecards.
However, even with the impressive victory, in the words of MasterCard, “There are some things ‘Money’ can’t buy.”
Late during the fight, as Guerrero desperately searched for the socks his foe had long before boxed off, a Mayweather fanatic at my fight party proudly boasted that Mayweather is the greatest fighter who ever lived. In today’s world of rampant hyperbole, his claim wasn’t particularly surprising.
Look across the sports world and you’ll hear the names of Tiger Woods, LeBron James, Tom Brady, Adrian Peterson and others proclaimed as the best ever. We often ignore the greatness of generations past due to the enchanting athletic gifts of those present.
As with most other cases of what I’ll call Hyper GOAT – Greatest Of All Time – syndrome (HGS), it’s simply not true for Mayweather – not even close.
My refusal to acknowledge Mayweather as the GOAT has nothing to do with hate, but rather history. I asked my HGS-suffering friend a simple question which puts the whole argument in context. Who was the last fighter Mayweather fought who was seen as the best (or second-best behind himself) in his division?
He thought long and hard before uttering the name of the late Diego Corrales. An argument could have also been made for Jose Luis Castillo but regardless, those fights took place in 2001 and 2002, respectively. Yes, it’s been more than a decade since Mr. Pound for Pound has taken on the best competition available.
Sure, fighters like Ricky Hatton, Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley were big names and talented fighters. However, Hatton was a junior welterweight fighting outside his natural division. De La Hoya and Mosley were both at the tail end of their storied careers.
It is said to be the best, you have to beat the best and Mayweather has repeatedly declined to take that challenge. Look back through the years at the top fighters who were somehow avoided by the fighter formerly known as Pretty Boy. Guys like Joel Casamayor, Antonio Margarito, Paul Williams, Kostya Tzyu and Manny Pacquiao all shared divisions with Mayweather at some point yet bouts never materialized.
Mayweather fanatics will blame boxing politics, promoters, drug tests, managers, contracts and anything else when the simple truth is that fighters have the power to make fights happen.
Others presume that a Mayweather victory against fighter X means that he would prevail over every person fighter X has ever beaten. Someone go tell that to the late Joe Frazier, who was knocked out by George Foreman, who was knocked out by Muhammad Ali, who lost to Joe Frazier. Confused yet? So am I.
The greats of yesteryear such as Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Louis and Henry Armstrong left no room for doubt while their held their titles. In the ‘80s, we saw Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran and Tommy Hearns battle each other for supremacy. We didn’t have to guess who was better because they answered it in the ring.
Mayweather’s claim to the iron throne is as shaky as the cowardly King Joffrey’s. When asked directly whether he wanted to face Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, the young fighter groomed to be “the man” at junior middleweight, in his next bout, the normally chatty fighter spoke vaguely about who he would target next. He wanted to rest, talk to his manager and figure it out later.
We’ve heard whispers that St. Louis’ own Devon Alexander may get the call, or England’s exciting, but china-chinned Amir Khan. Like Guerrero, these are solid fighters with decent resumes, but not the best.
Of course, as long as he’s boxing’s top earner, there’s no need for him to take such risks, especially if he’s truly all about the Benjamins.
When it comes to legacy, though, it appears he’s more concerned with retiring undefeated than defeating and retiring all comers in the ring like a true champion.
That means it’s very likely that Mayweather will be remembered as the greatest boxing businessman in history, not the greatest fighter. You can bank on it.
Follow Ishmael on Twitter @IshmaelSistrunk. Also watch out for his weekly boxing Hangouts on Google+ and YouTube.com/stlamericanvideo.
