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Floyd Mayweather, JR: Smoke and Mirrors Fool Some but Not ALL

Do you agree with Ian that Floyd Mayweather, JR. is all SMOKE and MIRRORS?

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Floyd M 2015By Ian Murphy

Now that the dust has settled after the “Fight of the Century”, a more introspective look at the career of boxing’s most polarizing pugilist may be in order. With his decisive (to most people) victory over rival Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather, JR. is once again in the “ATG” (all time great) discussion. After the Pacquiao fight, many people felt the win solidified his self-proclaimed greatness, while others still felt he was a fraud who was more salesman than champion. His “TBE” (The Best Ever) moniker is everywhere and Floyd’s bluster has become insufferable. His ego is now so big it is downright Biblical, at a “Ten Plagues of Egypt” level of braggadocio. Now we must ask ourselves: is this unbreakable confidence and cocky persona backed up by superior skill and ability, or is it a mirage? A closer examination of Floyd’s career may show some revealing insights that could at least partly answer that question.

On paper, Mayweather’s dominance appears pretty cut and dried as he’s defeated everyone put in front of him. However, when you take into account who he faced, when he faced them, and the circumstances surrounding his victories. The foundation of Mayweather’s apparent supremacy is not as solid as he would like you to believe. What we really see is a gifted, but technically flawed athlete beating hand-picked opponents often via favorable match ups. A few good examples of this are his scraps with Miguel Cotto, Saul Alvarez, Robert Guerrero, Victor Ortiz, and Marcos Maidana. All these aforementioned fighters are fairly one-dimensional plodders who overwhelm their opponents with conditioning and volume of punches as opposed to clever counters, feints, and cutting off the ring effectively. That type of fighter, while effective against some, (styles make fights) is tailor made for a peck and move cyclist like Floyd. All these men are good and solid fighters, but none are highly skilled, crafty and technically sound like a Jose Luis Castillo, an Oscar De La Hoya or a prime Shane Mosley. Mayweather beat all those guys too, yet two of those matches where very close decisions. Many people also felt that Castillo won their first fight, and that at age 39, Shane Mosley was a fistic senior citizen who overcame his arthritis to ring Mayweather’s bell.

Sometimes it takes a comparison with a similarly skilled type of athlete from another sport to make an understandable assessment. Floyd’s career is akin to a very good All-Star caliber MLB pitcher facing green AAA hitters, rookies, and older stars past their prime. If you take this good pitcher and match him up with consistently inferior competition instead of players comparable in skills, a false image of dominance will be the result. Don’t get me wrong, Mayweather (like our hypothetical MLB All-Star) is a good fighter, and a great athlete, but his defeat of an injured and old (in boxing years) Manny Pacquiao is NOTHING like when Muhammad Ali fought Joe Frazier in 1971. Those two legends were at or near their peaks as fighters and the fight was competitive and action packed as anticipated. His snoozefest against a past prime Oscar De La Hoya is not indicator of greatness and neither is his win over a diminished Shane Mosley. After his fight with De La Hoya, he fought tough, but unpolished Brit Ricky Hatton. He beat Hatton via decisive KO in 10, but shouldn’t the “TBE” blow out inferior fighters like that? All of his subsequent fights were “legacy building” matches against fighters he would look good against, like Guerrero, Ortiz and Co. Mayweather has wisely avoided fighters who threatened his “0”, like Amir Khan, Kell Brook, Timothy Bradley, or Keith Thurman.

It needs to be noted that Floyd Mayweather, JR. is hardly the first boxer to have a carefully navigated career to maximize earning power. To promoters, boxers are like investments, strike while the iron is hot and discard when there are signs of depleting value. Mayweather fully recognizes his value financially, but far overestimates his ability as a fighter. He is not “TBE”, not by a long shot. His athletic gifts are significant, as he was blessed with great speed, reflexes and a cool head under pressure. This should be the foundation of a truly great fighter, not the end result. This is what separates him from the truly All-Time Greats of boxing, men like Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali. All three of those warriors could lay claim to being The Greatest, and while people may disagree who is the best, no one would dispute them being in the conversation. Most boxing afficianados in the know often scoff at Mayweather being in that discussion, and that is hardly encouraging. Perhaps history will be kinder to Mayweather in the future and the unpleasant taste (to many) he has left behind with his attitude and personal life has faded a bit.

Most great fighters have losses for a reason, they fight everyone available and make their mark win, lose or draw. Manny Pacquiao has six losses because he wasn’t delicately maneuvered to avoid a loss. Oscar De La Hoya has his losses for the same reason. The Money Man is a fantastic self-promoter, and in that regard, Floyd has few peers. He is a fantastic pitch man and an expert in marketing himself and his fights. He has made obscene amounts of money. However, this combined with his manufactured greatness is not enough to consider him an all time great, as true greatness is not a reflection of one’s bank account.

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