by James Slater: There is no doubt, Floyd Mayweather Junior is the best fighter in the world today, pound-for-pound. He has captured world titles all the way from super-featherweight up to light-middleweight, is unbeaten, has handed two possible future Hall of Famers their first defeats, and is a very rich young man. Still, all that aside, is Floyd, to a degree at least, wasting his prime years?
All boxers, however great they are, have only a short time during which they are at the very peak of their physical powers. This time is, or has been, the last year or so right up until the present day in the case of “Pretty Boy.” Yet is Mayweather using his peak time to his very best advantage? No, he isn’t. At a time when his undeniable greatness could/should be being tested and confirmed with victories over a whole number of choice opponents in a currently well over-stocked welterweight division, Floyd is instead either messing about “fighting” pro wrestlers, or planning to engage in needless rematches with a light-middleweight and a natural light-welterweight, both of whom he has already beaten convincingly.. This during his precious, never to come again, peak years?
Surely now is the very time Mayweather should be using his skill and talent to much better effect. More conducive to his legacy as a true great would be fights against the many formidable names there are right now at 147 pounds. Men like Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, Shane Mosley and Paul Williams are the fighters Mayweather should be spending his time with these days. Floyd gets wins over one, two or three of these guys, and no-one would be able to question “Pretty Boy’s” excellence again. The way things are, however, it seems Floyd will never face these potentially greatness confirming rivals. This will definitely hurt the way Mayweather is remembered in the coming years/decades.
“In short, Floyd, while at or about his absolute peak, did not even attempt to clean up his occupied weight class.” Could this quote be along the lines of what historians will be writing many years from now if Mayweather carries on the way he’s going? Of all the ingredients needed to be recognised as a true great, quality of opposition is one of the most important. Yet Floyd, while at his peak, has fought hardly anybody who was both fighting in his own weight class as well as enjoying his prime years. It sounds almost unbelievable, but it’s true. Only one time in the last four years has Floyd boxed a fighter who was both at his peak or thereabouts AND boxing at his natural weight (look it up and see, Zab Judah aside, who fits the criteria of a foe who was both at his peak and boxing in his natural weight class?). Will this be accepted as true greatness in the years to come? Despite his sublime talent and fine boxing brain, his failure to face the very best possible opposition that occupies his current weight class is what is going to hurt Mayweather down the road.
Just think of the great fights Floyd could be having right about now. Even since his win over Ricky Hatton back in December of last year, Mayweather could have/should have taken on one of the top names at 147. Instead, five months on from Mayweather-Hatton, Floyd has done nothing in the boxing ring. What a waste! To repeat, a boxer’s peak years are few and do not come back again. Won’t Floyd, years from now, regret the fact that he didn’t get all he could have from his superb boxing ability? Will he be thinking, “shouldn’t I have proved my greatness beyond anybody’s doubt with another two or three wins over accepted fellow greats during my career?” Very possibly.
What would Sugar Ray Leonard’s rep be today, for example, if he’d not fought HIS best available opponent during his absolute peak, in Tommy Hearns? No-one would be able to say Leonard cleaned up the weight class he occupied during his prime had he avoided “The Hitman.” It would not have been sufficient for Leonard to have done what Mayweather does, and say he’d proved all there was to prove by defeating all his pre-Hearns opponents. Yet Floyd, in not granting his clear and obvious number one challenger in Miguel Cotto a bout with him, and claming he has no need to because he has already proven his greatness beyond doubt, is doing just this.
Bottom line, if a peak fighter retires without having beaten the best available competition in his own weight class, he cannot be recognised as a fighter who did all he could to solidify his greatness. Unless he makes a swift alteration to his line of thinking soon, “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather, the best boxer in the world right now, will be remembered as a fighter who was content to waste a number of his peak years.