Yes, you read the title right.
Floyd Mayweather Jr has been widely criticized and very rarely looked at as a possible GOAT contender. I too have been critical of Floyd and his claims to be the greatest. Floyd has been looked at as a fighter that is not willing to take risks and doesn't fight the top competition in his weight class. He cleaned out the 130, 135 pound weight classes beating Jose Luis Castillo twice (first one somewhat close, second one a blowout) and absolutely dismantled the late Diego Corrales in the most lopsided fight I have ever seen. Diego was a king in the weight class at the time and many people picked him to win the fight based on his height and reach. Floyd knocked him down 6 times and I can't remember Floyd being touched more than a few times.
Where Floyd began to receive criticism was when he moved up to the 140 weight class, here he claimed supremacy after only 3 fights Chop Chop Corley, Henry Bruseles and the late Arturo Gatti. Out side of Gatti most people have no clue who he fought at 140lbs. At the time Arturo Gatti was insanely popular due to his wars with Micky Ward (if these come on ESPN classic they are a must watch). Floyd beat Gatti like he stole something. This would have been as bad a beating as Floyd gave Corrales except Gatti wouldn't go down. After the Gatti fight Floyd moved up to 147lbs when guys like Miguel Cotto and Ricky Hatton were still dominating the rest of the competition. It truly looked like Floyd was ducking one or both of these fighters.
At 147, Floyd again only fought 3 times. Sharmba Mitchell, Zab Judah and Carlos Baldomir. The king pin at 147 was Zab Judah because he held the 3 major belts. Zab was upset (i still don't know how this happened) by Carlos Baldomir in a tune up fight to his fight with Floyd. Floyd and Zab still fought because on the intense fan interest in the fight. Zab showed in the first 4 rounds that he was just as fast as Floyd and even put Floyd on the canvas (wasn't ruled a knockdown). Then Floyd did something that made me truly see his skill, he settled down and began to pick apart Zab, by the end of the fight it looked lopsided as Floyd began to touch Zab whenever he wanted. After that Floyd beat Carlos Baldomir in a ridiculously boring fight. Then Floyd moved to 154 and stopped fighting for belts. But, outside of Zab Judah, he didn't beat the top fighters in the division once again. Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito and Paul Williams were never fought. Again, it seemed as if Floyd was ducking competition.
Floyd moved to 154 to fight De La Hoya in the "the fight to save boxing". Although the fight wasn't the best fight it was more competitive than some people thought. Many people came out saying that the fight was weak and boxing 'was dead' but to this day many of those people are still tuning in to see what Floyd does. Next, Floyd came back down to 147 to fight Ricky Hatton whom many people said he was ducking but people who were not kidding themselves knew that Floyd would destroy Ricky, which he did. Then retirement. Without fighting, Cotto, Mosley, Margarito or Williams. Who would have been his toughest opponents for the last 4 years.
Anyways, I say this all because the main argument against Floyd is the fact that he seemingly ducked the top competition at 140 and 147 which for whatever reason , is true. If he fought and beat all of those fighters there wouldn't be much of an argument against him.
Now on to the Mayweather vs Mosley fight. I too wanted to see Mosley beat Floyd and end the talk of him being a possible GOAT. Just like everyone else, I was screaming at Shane to end it in the second round when Mayweather was badly hurt. But after that point in time, Floyd showed the same thing that he showed against Zab Judah. When his speed and boxing skills can be matched, Floyd goes Tiger Woods on'em, Air Jordan on'em, Kobe Bryant on'em. Floyd went into the zone, he became laser focused on what he needed to do to, not win, but dominate the fight. He had Shane Mosley sooooo shook, that Shane wouldn't let his hands go. Floyd is by far, the most skilled fighter I have ever seen (sorry Roy Jones Jr, it's true).
Manny Pacquiao. I can't wait to see this fight, I am a huge Pacquiao fan. I think his speed is as fast as Floyd and his power is greater than Floyds. I don't see Pacquiao being shook like Shane, he is relentless and won't back down. The question is, can Floyd keep that laser focus in the face of Pacquiao's relentless pressure. If Floyds wins, better yet, if Floyd dominates Manny, then you must put his name right alongside Ray Robinson, Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali.
Money May on'em.
