There is no doubt that Floyd Mayweather Jr. is one of the greatest boxers in history. The only debate is where he ranks among the greats.
Even some of his harshest critics will agree to the fact that he is the most talented boxer today. His package of skills is arguably second to none when compared to his contemporaries. But how come he hasn’t achieved the level of stardom, respect and recognition that he’s been longing for?
He’s mentioned in the past that a number of people won’t give him the respect he deserves because he’s black. That may be true to some extent, but he must not forget the fact that many of the most respected boxers in history are African Americans.
The real reason, he hasn’t achieved the recognition and greatness that he and his fans expected from him is because of his questionable decision making and failure to stand behind his decisions.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. has an unblemished record and contrary to popular belief did not always avoid the toughest competition. There was a time, when he fought all comers. He fought and dominated a prime Diego Corrales and outclassed Jose Luis Castillo in their rematch. His lists of other victims also include solid fighters such as Genaro Hernandez, Zab Zudah, Jesus Chavez and Carlos Baldomir.
But instead of continuing his path to greatness, he took a turn and went to the path towards the ‘money.’ There’s nothing wrong with that. Like Pacquiao, he’s sacrificed many things to get where he’s at today and had already paid his dues to earn the right to stir his career in whatever direction he wants.
The problem is while he says that “Legacy don’t pay the bills” he often contradicts it with his actions such as becoming defensive when his legacy is attacked. Let us not forget too, that he rejected a fight with Margarito that would have paid him $8 million dollars. The fact is that most athletes of his stature do care about their legacy and most fans are smart enough to know that. He might get more respect if he just stands by his decision or don’t contradict his statements with his actions.
Furthermore, Mayweather needs to know that following the path of money does not always lead to the path of greatness. In sports, you are often judge by what you have done lately and since 2005, he has not fought any elite fighters in his division.
Floyd Mayweather reputation has also taken a hit because of his questionable decisions. After Carlos Baldomir, he could have fought a prime Cotto, but chose to fight Oscar De La Hoya instead.
I can’t fault him for wanting to fight Oscar since the fight with the Golden Boy provided him the highest pay day of his career at the time and the chance to display his skills to a wider audience.
After the fight with Oscar, he became a household name and was on his way to becoming the face of the sport. But instead of facing the toughest competition in his division, he provided more ammunition for his critics by facing the smaller Hatton.
Still it was understandable since Hatton provided another big pay day, but by the same token the fans and many boxing insiders had the right to question his greatness and criticize his choice of opponents.
After that fight, he had a chance to silence his critics by facing the best fighters in a loaded division, but chose to retire prematurely. That might have been his worst decision since his popularity during that time was arguably rising and had the best chance to solidify his position among the greatest of all time since the welterweight division was packed with the some of the most talented boxers of the time.
Miguel Cotto was still undefeated and considered one of the best boxers pound for pound. There was Paul Williams who just scored a victory over Margarito. In addition, Shane Mosley had resurrected his career after two consecutive loses to Winky Wright by stringing five consecutive victories before losing a competitive fight with Cotto via a decision. There were a lot of fighters before he retired that he could have fought but chose not too for reasons only he himself know.
Had he not retired and fought Cotto, Williams or Mosley, then there might not even be any question who is the best pound for pound fighter today and the greatest boxer of his generation. He probably didn’t even need to beat all those fighters to gain the respect of his critics. It’s often been proven that undefeated records are overrated as proven by the fact that very few of the legends in the sport have spotless records. No one should criticize him for retiring, but he can’t expect people to put him in the same class as the Haglers and Leonards.
But what added to Floyd’s misfortune was Pacquiaos successful ascension to the higher weight classes after he retired. Pacquiao took the throne and quickly gained the admiration of many fans by doing what many expected from Floyd, which is to maximize his potential and face the greatest of challenges. It must have been a hard pill to swallow for Floyd, when he saw a fighter, whom he thought as inferior rapidly gain the respect that he had always longed for.
Many fans of Floyd Jr. brags about his intelligence, but whether they admit it or not Pacquiao made the smarter decision by taking the road less taken in his journey to become one of the greatest boxers in history. The road that included facing the toughest of challenges despite the risks involved.
Incidentally, what Pacquiao found out and what Mayweather should have known is that the following the road to greatness more often than not also leads to the path of money. Now, Pacquiao has become not only the best boxer of his generation, but one of its most bankable superstars.
As a result, Floyd now finds himself in danger of forever being in the shadow of Manny Pacquiao. The truth is Pacquiao has already surpassed all the expectations bestowed upon him and does not need Mayweather as much as the latter needs him to secure his legacy.
Yet, Floyd Jr. seems to be lucky since opportunities for him to gain the recognition that he had always wanted seems to constantly fall on his lap. The only problem is that he often fails to take advantage of them.
He had a chance to fight Manny Pacquiao in a bout that would have decided, who is truly the fighter of this generation, but again he found a way to ruin that opportunity. It provided the easiest way for Floyd to dispel many of the criticisms that have been thrown at him and prove to everyone that he truly belongs among the upper echelon of the greatest boxers in the sport.
Now the fight is off and his reputation of ducking the toughest opponents has become more credible. He’s not the only one at fault, as there is enough blame to spread among all the people involved. But no matter whose side you are on; one fact remains and that is Pacquiao is already willing to go above and beyond what is required for him. In fact, of the two fighters, it is not Pacquiao that is rumored to have a history of using a substance that is banned in most states. The truth is any argument that comes from the Mayweather camp or his followers are always going to be flawed since it’s rooted from baseless accusations.
Also, mandating an athlete of Pacquiao’s stature, who has no history of taking any illegal substance, to undergo a testing procedure that has never been forced upon to any of his peers before is nothing short of disrespectful. How would fans feel if someone mandated that Jordan or Tiger Woods undergo non-mandatory tests based on baseless accusations? Some have mentioned Lance Armstrong and Michael Phelps as examples of people that have succumbed to more tests than is required. But the difference is that they just volunteered to be tested more often than their peers using testing procedures that are already part of their respective sports and Pacquiao has already done that by agreeing to unlimited urine testing. Pacquiao is being pressured to succumb to a ‘non-mandatory’ testing procedure that has never been part of his routine as a boxer.
But the Mayweather camp’s request would have become more credible if they had been consistent with their statements. If Schaefer had agreed to blood testing when Mosley was asked to take one by the Judah camp during a negotiation for a possible fight. If Oscar had not said that Pacquiao’s punches weren’t hard and then suddenly changed his tune and wrote on his blog that the latter’s punches felt like Mosley’s and Vargas.’ If Haymon, who is Berto’s manager would have mandated that Mosley go through the same testing procedure since one of his main reasoning for Olympic drug testing in regards to Pacquiao is to protect Mayweather. So he doesn’t care about Berto? Mosley has admitted to using performance enhancing drugs ‘unknowingly’ and Pacquiao has not.
But even with those contradicting statements, many fans would have still given them the benefit of the doubt regarding their intentions of mandating Pacquiao to agree on the Olympic style testing if they had previous history of being vocal about the issue of having a more strenuous testing in the sport. Before this fight, I don’t remember any of them complaining about the current Nevada Athletic Commission testing procedures. I don’t remember any of them trying to put a group together to try to implement an Olympic style testing as part of the sport.
If Golden Boy Promotions’ intention was really to improve the current testing procedure for the betterment of the sport, then they could have set a precedent and had all their fighters mandated to undergo the Olympic style drug testing in order to set an example. But the fact is they haven’t and the only thing they have done is permanently tarnish the legacy of an athlete who has helped keep boxing alive while putting a large amount of money in their pockets.
If Mayweather Jr wants to gain the respect and recognition that he thinks he deserves then he must fight Pacquiao under the current rules of Nevada Athletic Commission or agree on Pacquiao’s compromise since the latter is already willing to go above what is required. If he’s got a problem with the current testing procedures, then he needs to take it up to the Nevada Athletic Commission.
For now his legacy will be the most talented boxer of his generation but not its greatest boxer since that title belongs to Manny Pacquiao. Until he faces and beats Pacquiao, then he will always be second best and that might even be debatable.
(send questions to Oliver via email at osuarez@fighthype.com and follow him on twitter @sportzhype)
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This entry was posted on Sunday, January 10th, 2010 at 4:49 AM. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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