Is Floyd Mayweather really a modern great?

By Fantana - 02/27/2015 - Comments

Boxing is a sport where real men, such as myself, compete with other guys for rewards like money, respect and lots of women. Floyd Mayweather has lots of money, possibly gets tons of women but he does not have the respect of other modern greats such as someone like, I don’t know, his next opponent Many Pacquiao. His greatness is definitely questionable. The reasons for this are numerous and are as easily notable as desirable traits in women (youth, beauty and large boobies). One thing people like in their champions is for them to be British, which he isn’t. If you’re not British you definitely have to overcome inferior DNA to excel at boxing although you may be blessed with better teeth. All the best guys have been British, heck even Roy Jones Jr said he would fit right in somewhere in Wales because of his name. In this article I will outline reasons I believe Floyd Mayweather may not be a modern day great boxer using other modern greats as a comparison.

He has never lost

It is often said you learn more in a loss then you do in a win. Why? Because loosing sucks, that’s why. I recently lost a game of Cludo to this girl I was supposed to be dating, I am pretty sure she cheated, not just at Cludo. Anyway, I learnt from the loss and am truly a better player now because of it. Many Pacquiao has lost and this makes him a much better pugilist. Getting knocked spark out by a 40 year old doesn’t make you worse, it makes you improve. Getting outpointed by Bradley – which some say was a controversial loss – made Pacquiao improve as we saw in the rematch where he won – which some say was also a controversial win. People rate Manny as a great – even though he has a shitty haircut – because he has lost and come back showing he is a real winner. When you easily outclass all of your opponents and win every time this doesn’t show greatness in the same way bouncing back from bad defeats does.

He hasn’t been in enough close battles

If Floyd was really great he would have a few close battles with the same fighters, maybe a trilogy or two. Sure he rematched Maidana and showed superiority after a closer first fight but a better way to display his greatness would be to have a real tough close fight, win brutally, and then retire ala Lennox Lewis. Maybe he can do that in his next contest. Floyd shouldn’t use all the advantages he has over opponents to always win because in a way this is cheating. He would throw caution to the wind and go all out balls to the wall, in a non-gay way, compromising his skills to get the job done in a more viewer friendly fashion, like Manny Pacquiao. He who dares, wins – as the old British saying goes. Unlike Manny, who can arguably lay claim to have recorded the greatest come from behind win in boxing history when his lucky left hook amazingly snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against all-time great Ricky Hatton, Floyd has yet to have that career defining moment

He is too controversial

The oddest thing I find about Floyd fans is how they stick up for Floyd Mayweather’s actions all the time. Not just his constant winning but other shit like appearing on TV, enjoying his money by buying anything he wants and sticking up for him after he luckily beat Ricky Hatton. Heck, he wouldn’t fight Hatton at 140 because he knew he would have been beaten inside two rounds. A modern great champion would simply go about his business inside the ring, conducting himself professionally and without apology for being awesome. You know, like James Bond. Outside of the ring you would never hear about him, he would be pretty much invisible, like whichever Klitschko is still fighting. People may say ‘who the heck is that?’ when you bring up such alienated champions but that just shows their true greatness.

He moans too much

This might be a harsh point but it is true. Floyd Mayweather moans way too much about too many things. He whinges about why he should get the biggest purse split an awful lot. Just because he successfully makes more money than any other fighter in history in each fight and his fights always sell millions on PPV regardless of opponent doesn’t mean he should always get the biggest share – just ask Pacquiao fans. He goes on about making sure PEDs aren’t being used in boxing to make it a level playing field. The most moaning he does though is about silly things like having your legacy constantly trashed, achievements belittled or every action you take scrutinized. A real man, such as myself, wouldn’t let it bother him – we’re used to it from our mums.

He is American

Americans are a proud race of people. On my many trips to America, my second favourite non-British country (behind Lapland where I met Santa Claus) I encountered lots of people – not all of them were obese. Interestingly enough they don’t see Floyd as a once in a generation fighter who we may never experience, in a non-gay way, again. The country doesn’t unite behind him and celebrate that they have an undefeated world champion who is fighting in the biggest fight of all time. Entire nations get behind their champions – Klitschko sells out Germany even though he is not German, Pacquiao has two billion look-a-likes willing him to win and Floyd Mayweather? He has folks literally praying that he gets knocked out. Clearly that must be a huge indicator he may not be the greatest fighter of his generation and one who will perhaps be remembered as TBE.

IN CLOSING

Greatness is not as much of a subjective matter or one of opinion as many will lead you to believe. It is basically just facts. Facts like Land Rovers are the best 4×4 by far, or that Great Britain is indeed the shining beacon of freedom and democracy in the world can be proven, somehow. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter how little you get hit, how many titles you win in how many divisions or how much better you are than everyone else, what matters in terms of legacy is how you are perceived. This is why Floyd’s greatness is still in question, and that my friends is not a question.

Yours in manliness,
Fantana

About the author – Fantana can be contacted through twitter @MavFantana where he hangs out eating coco-pops