Floyd Mayweather Could Be Boxing’s Greatest!

 

The quickness is still there. The timing is still on point. The skills are still mastered to perfection!

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is back and he’s still ready to run the boxing world just like he’s done his whole career. After demonstrating yet another extraordinary display of boxing excellence in last night’s bout against Juan Manuel Marquez, there should be no question in anyone’s mind that he is the best in the game. Manny Pacquiao who?

With his chin tucked tight, a series of left jabs, and devastating right hand leads, Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) looked as crisp and as sharp as ever in his 12-round victory. He even dropped Marquez (50-5-1) with a left hook in the second round, bullying the smaller guy. 

There were speculations surrounding the “Pretty Boy” prior to the bout:

“This will be Floyd’s toughest challenge.”

“He’s been out of boxing for 21 months, will he be the same?”

“How could he possibly beat a man who drinks his own urine?”

“Rick Ross is going at him!”

All of this chatter was temporarily silenced after “Money” Mayweather accurately punched the lights out of his opponent, winning every round.  Connecting on 290 of his 493 blows, he was able to land 59 percent of his punches (…yes 59%) and dish out a lot of leather in the process.  

Marquez’s face clearly beat up Mayweather’s gloves.

Immediately following the bout, HBO’s Max Kellerman conducted one of the most unprofessional post-fight interviews of recent years. Kellerman’s questions pushed Mayweather to become defensive, forcing him to want to explain himself with “Let me talk—you do too much taking!” Shane Mosley was also called into the interview in a disrespectful attempt to get a payday from fighting Floyd, “Kanye-ing” his shine. Mayweather had to tell him to “Respect me as a man.”

Kellerman tried to clean up his antics when talking to HBO’s other co-host Jim Lampley afterwards. He stated that “It seems to me that in certain ways he can’t get out of his own way. I’m friendlier in my disposition to Floyd than most in the media because I enjoy pure boxers and he’s an all-time great pure boxer. And yet he seems to feel persecuted by even me, who really enjoys his craft.”

Can you blame him? It seems as if Mayweather can never do anything to permanently cement himself as the clear cut best in the sport. It’s always that someone else is better at the time. With a perfect record, it should be no doubt that he is the best not only now but possibly of all-time!

How can you argue that he isn’t? He’s handily defeated any possible threat that has stepped in the ring against him including:

• Ricky Hatton by 12-round TKO.
• Oscar De La Hoya by unanimous decision.
• Zab Judah throughout an action-packed and exciting unanimous victory.
• Arturo Gatti in six rounds leaving him bloody!
• Diego Corrales with five knock downs before his corner threw in the towel.

These are just to name a few.

I understand that Muhammad Ali ruled the Heavyweight division with class and execution of the sport as well as the people’s hearts all over the nation. That Mike Tyson forcibly annihilated his competition in the 80s with power and speed. That Roy Jones entertained us all with style and charisma, putting fans in the stands and giving them a show. That “Sugar” Ray Leonard faced stiff competition in Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler and came out on top.

But understand this, all of these greats have met their match and tasted defeat at some point in their career while Floyd Mayweather Jr. has never crossed this bridge.  So he should get the proper respect that he deserves as arguably the “Greatest of All-Time!”