BWAA Fighter of the Decade: Floyd Mayweather Jr.

[lazboy]

Fair point. To me he’s an accumulation puncher, has the power to stop people but needs to throw punches in bunches, which is common for the lighter weights. However he didn’t throw punches in bunches like he did in his earlier career.

James Toney power comes to mind as a comparison but a James Toney who threw one or two punches instead of multiple punches.

I know he threw and landed clean but he liked to pot shot and they were generally one at a time. They made opponents heads wobble but rarely did we see him go into full attack mode, he was too smart to allow himself to do that.

[margaret thatcher]

Because of his accuracy I'd say he landed more clean power shots per fight than most world class boxers do. If there was even a touch of notable power I'd expect more than 15-0 (2) and 1 knockdown all decade. Come, on, what about another few flash knockdowns, or hurting a guy and then landing a couple more to drop him or take a knee? He did unload on an exhausted MMA fighter in his last fight and couldn't put him on the canvas.

Amazing boxer at all weights, solid pop at lower weights where he could score early kds too, but any praise of his power above 140 I can't buy really.

[lazboy]

Eh, I have to admit those stats aren’t flattering to his power lol.

The only thing I’ll say is this, he was awarded the fighter of the decade due to the level of opponent. Probably the least durable on his record was Robert Guerro.

[Onetimeonly]

Lost to pacquiao and maidana. Ducked margarito, williams and pacquiao.

[tiny_acres]

The topic that you are addressing is fighter of the decade

Ok. You want 2010-2019. I got it.

Floyd fought from 2010-2015 (i dont count a fight against a opponent with a 0-0 record)

From 2010-2015 he lost against pac and maidana, had 1 dominant good win against a prime canelo. Struggled with cotto.

From 2010-2019 vasyl won againt prime gary russell, beat a 2 time olympic gold boxing world champion & prime linares and during the time period 2016-2017 loma looked like the best boxer ever(I believe it is 90s jones, but 17 loma looked phenomenal)

During 2010-2019 had 1 loss.

Timmy robbery
Floyd at best a draw. I had pac
Horn robbery

Pac (16 fights) took way more fights than floyd (9 fights) and way more risks. Instead of floyd self claimed best ever taking on dangerous opponents at the end of his career like spence or thurman floyd took berto and a debut boxer. What did pac do. Fight n win against thurman! Floyd avoided the bigger marga, midget pac fought the much bigger marga.

If a boxer is decade #1 than either pac or loma, not floyd.

Mayweather clearly beat the 2 runner ups in Pac and Canelo.

[Ruthless-RKO]

There’s no point arguing with some people. Their minds are already set. Leave them to it.

[littlepug]

I’m not buying that he didn’t have power over 140 just because he didn’t stop anyone, Floyd didn’t waste energy trying to land power shots but when someone got lively he would put more meat behind his shots to warn them off, there’s a reason why he could walk so many guys down and that’s good feet and the fact his opponents had respect for his power

[Onetimeonly]

I’m not buying that he didn’t have power over 140 just because he didn’t stop anyone, Floyd didn’t waste energy trying to land power shots but when someone got lively he would put more meat behind his shots to warn them off, there’s a reason why he could walk so many guys down and that’s good feet and the fact his opponents had respect for his power

[RonnyJ]

There’s no point arguing with some people. Their minds are already set. Leave them to it.

Floyd is amongs the best boxers ever.
Top 10 ever. So no. I am not a hater.

I just dont like his style and him avoiding top boxers in prime.

[margaret thatcher]

I’m not buying that he didn’t have power over 140 just because he didn’t stop anyone, Floyd didn’t waste energy trying to land power shots but when someone got lively he would put more meat behind his shots to warn them off, there’s a reason why he could walk so many guys down and that’s good feet and the fact his opponents had respect for his power

He didn't really do that much walking down above 140 and when he did it was often when opponents were tired and disheartened from being clowned, not because they couldn't stand his power. Despite landing tons of clean shots he scored 1 entire knockdown (the blind Ortiz shot) in the decade. When he really let his hands go also battered the hell out of an exhausted McG and couldn't floor him. I'm just not buying that his power was at all underrated above 140 when he landed as many clean power shots as he did (often guys walked onto them for extra force too) yet did as little damage as he did. I mean fighters score knockdowns all the time with single shots without having to beat the hell out of opponents, and despite landing tons of flush power shots Floyd scored 1 in the whole 10 fight decade and stopped a grand 2 of 15 above 140. His opponents were obviously good but most had been down plenty before.

Guys not getting totally uppity is more of an outboxing thing than a power thing too as I said, even Paulie rarely had anyone just completely swarm him. People often fail to grasp that having an opponent effectively time you, land accurately, and completely make you miss will shut guys down and dishearten them without power having anything to do with it.

If you mean buy underrated, it was not merely 0, okay, then I see what you mean. I don't mean to say that he literally couldn't crack an egg

[littlepug]

I’m not buying that he didn’t have power over 140 just because he didn’t stop anyone, Floyd didn’t waste energy trying to land power shots but when someone got lively he would put more meat behind his shots to warn them off, there’s a reason why he could walk so many guys down and that’s good feet and the fact his opponents had respect for his power

He didn't really do that much walking down above 140 and when he did it was often when opponents were tired and disheartened from being clowned, not because they couldn't stand his power. Despite landing tons of clean shots he scored 1 entire knockdown (the blind Ortiz shot) in the decade. When he really let his hands go also battered the hell out of an exhausted McG and couldn't floor him. I'm just not buying that his power was at all underrated above 140 when he landed as many clean power shots as he did (often guys walked onto them for extra force too) yet did as little damage as he did. I mean fighters score knockdowns all the time with single shots without having to beat the hell out of opponents, and despite landing tons of flush power shots Floyd scored 1 in the whole 10 fight decade and stopped a grand 2 of 15 above 140. His opponents were obviously good but most had been down plenty before.

Guys not getting totally uppity is more of an outboxing thing than a power thing too as I said, even Paulie rarely had anyone just completely swarm him. People often fail to grasp that having an opponent effectively time you, land accurately, and completely make you miss will shut guys down and dishearten them without power having anything to do with it.

If you mean buy underrated, it was not merely 0, okay, then I see what you mean. I don't mean to say that he literally couldn't crack an egg

Fair enough, nothing wrong with a healthy disagreement ! I get what your saying but I just think Floyd always had plenty of “pull” on most of the shots he threw, even the ones he had a bit of weight behind he never really followed through with the shot as defence and not wasting energy we’re key to his longevity, let me rephrase it and say he hit hard enough to get respect from an opponent but never allowed himself to put his full weight behind his shots so limiting the risk of a counter shot, in other word he had the ability to take an easier route to victory

[apollo creed]

Let's face it and be real. FMJ was/ is a very gifted boxing&business person. Since FMJ was young he knew how to find ways to win and step up to the next level cleverly. Of course that most of us would've liked to see FMJ vs prime Pacquiao, Margarito, Cotto, P.Williams Casamayor, Feritas, Kostya Tszyu, etc but Floyd fought quality opponents too like Castillio, Zab Judah, Baldomir, jr ww Hatton, Mosley, young Alvarez and Maidana.

[margaret thatcher]

I never really get the Margarito one, he would have been absolutely clowned.

[world ranked]

And a whole host of other dubious activities.

Apart from the Hatton fight (yet another dubious one) I can't bring myself to rewatch a single Mayweather matchup.

Whereas Pacquiao on the other hand has rarely been in a dull fight.

Loved and respected across the world and is a living inspiration to millions.

Exactly.

There are a lot of boxing newbies here, who dont know what they talking about.

They werent around in the boxing scene when around 2008 paul williams and antonio margarito were in prime physical shape, one was 6'2, the other 5'11 and both were t/ko everybody. They were the most avoided boxers and what did the best boxer of the generation do, took 2 years vavation to avoid boxing them, was scared as hell when margarito approched him in the hotel lobby.

Avoiding and running. A boring career.

Margarito and WIlliams both lost to lesser guys but you clearly left that out as well.

[world ranked]

I never really get the Margarito one, he would have been absolutely clowned.

I guess somehow just because he was big he would win.

[RonnyJ]

Exactly.

There are a lot of boxing newbies here, who dont know what they talking about.

They werent around in the boxing scene when around 2008 paul williams and antonio margarito were in prime physical shape, one was 6'2, the other 5'11 and both were t/ko everybody. They were the most avoided boxers and what did the best boxer of the generation do, took 2 years vavation to avoid boxing them, was scared as hell when margarito approched him in the hotel lobby.

Avoiding and running. A boring career.

Margarito and WIlliams both lost to lesser guys but you clearly left that out as well.

pac lost also to nobodys and became one of the greatest ever.

during their prime margarito and williams were terrorizing the welterweight division and KO'd opponents.
floyd wanted no part of that, believe it or not.

[RonnyJ]

when he was a ppv bust he had to fight corrales to make cash. once he became money may the ppv star, he did everthing not to fight the much taller with more reach williams, margarito. older, smaller and past primes, that was floyds game.

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

Mayweather 10 -0 in the decade

Beat pacquiao, maidana twice and canelo. And cotto

Pacquiao 12-4
Beat tim bradley twice, jmm, thurman

Its really only between these two. Mayweather has the better wins and beat pacman head to head

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

Floyd was a master at minimizing risk in the ring and out. He managed his opponent selection very well. The biggest chance he took was facing oscar at 154 and it worked and made him a superstar

You dont go undefeated in boxing in 50 fights without being good at matchmaking.

[Enlightened-One]

Floyd was a master at minimizing risk in the ring and out. He managed his opponent selection very well. The biggest chance he took was facing oscar at 154 and it worked and made him a superstar

You dont go undefeated in boxing in 50 fights without being good at matchmaking.

Let's evaluate Floyd Mayweather Jr's career...

• Possesses an unblemished 50-0 professional record, with 27 KO’s
• Competed in 29 world title fights (if we include the lineal championship as well)
• Has gained world titles in five weight divisions (super featherweight, lightweight, light welterweight, welterweight & light middleweight)
• Has won twelve world title belts from the big four governing bodies
• Has consistently been ranked amongst the top ten pound-for-pound Ring Magazine rankings during his career
• Was the Ring Magazine’s fighter of the year in 1998 & 2007
• 24 of his victories have come against 22 former world champions
• Floyd achieved a 17-fight winning streak against former/current world champions when he defeated Andre Berto, a run which commenced a decade prior (against Arturo Gatti [25/06/2005])
• Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been a professional boxer for two decades
• Money May won his first world title fight 17 years prior to his final world championship bout, by defeating Genaro Hernandez (a Hall-of-Fame nominee, a man who had competed in 15 world title bouts, had only previously been defeated by Oscar De La Hoya [in a weight class that was not his natural habitat] and who also boasted a victory against an all-time-great [Azumah Nelson])
• Ring Magazine rates Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 12th position of its pound-for-pound “Best-of-Modern Times” list (based on the votes of 20 boxing experts to determine the Top 20 fighters since World War II)
• Based on the aggregated totals of all fights on his resume, the average Floyd Mayweather Jr. opponent lands a mere 16% of punches thrown, this is the lowest collective figure recorded in CompuBox's 4,000-fight database (as of May 2014)
• Mayweather had the best plus/minus rating of any fighter (as of September 2014), which is a measure of the variance between Floyd’s own connect rate and that of his opponents’ (in other words, a gauge of the “Hit and don't get hit” old adage)
• BoxRec considers Floyd Mayweather Jr. the greatest of all time

In terms of Floyd Mayweather Jr’s final sixteen opponents of his career:

• Five were top-ten ranked pound-for-pounders at the time he faced them (Juan Manuel Marquez, Ricky Hatton, Shane Mosley; Canelo Alvarez and Manny Pacquiao)
• Five are dead-cert first ballot Hall-of-Famers (Juan Manuel Marquez, Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley; Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao)
• Fifteen opponents were world champions during their careers
• Two are currently ranked in the top-ten pound-for-pound list and are also current world title holders (Canelo Alvarez [fighter of the year 2019] and Manny Pacquiao)
• Ten held world titles in multiple weight divisions (Zab Judah; Juan Manuel Marquez; Ricky Hatton; Oscar De La Hoya; Manny Pacquiao; Marcos Maidana; Saul Alvarez; Robert Guerrero; Miguel Cotto; and Shane Mosley)

At least twelve of the fighters Floyd Mayweather Jr. faced were fighters that became Hall-of-Fame inductees or at least good enough to be included in the nominees listed in the annual IBHoF voting ballot:

• Arturo Gatti
• Oscar De La Hoya
• Juan Manuel Márquez
• Canelo
• Manny Pacquiao
• Genaro Hernández
• Jose Luis Castillo
• Diego Corrales
• Ricky Hatton
• Shane Mosley
• Miguel Cotto
• Zab Judah

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

Yeah hes great

To be undefeated fighting that level of competition you'd have to be

He picked off several great fighters on the downside. I think he would have beat most of those guys even in their primes. Guys like mosley, cotto, Pacquiao, de la hoya

I think the only time he actually made a poor matchmaking choice was maidana. But he hedged that by paying maidana more before fight night to not wear reyes gloves

Hes brilliant

On your list not sure judah gets on a ballot or not. It took corrales a long time to get on one. Same with Castillo

[Enlightened-One]

On your list not sure judah gets on a ballot or not. It took corrales a long time to get on one.

19 world title bouts, fought 15 world champions, a world champion at 140lbs, a three-time world champion at 147lbs, a RING Magazine champion, a top-ten pound-for-pounder, an undisputed champion at welterweight and the list of accomplishments goes on-and-on.

Zab Judah is vastly more accomplished than existing Hall-of-Famers like Barry McGuigan, Arturo Gatti and Ingemar Johansson.

And like I said before, even if Judah never gets inducted into the IBHoF, he’ll almost certainly be included in the voting ballot in five years’ time.

[tiny_acres]

On your list not sure judah gets on a ballot or not. It took corrales a long time to get on one.

19 world title bouts, fought 15 world champions, a world champion at 140lbs, a three-time world champion at 147lbs, a RING Magazine champion, a top-ten pound-for-pounder, an undisputed champion at welterweight and the list of accomplishments goes on-and-on.

Zab Judah is vastly more accomplished than existing Hall-of-Famers like Barry McGuigan, Arturo Gatti and Ingemar Johansson.

And like I said before, even if Judah never gets inducted into the IBHoF, he’ll almost certainly be included in the voting ballot in five years’ time.

Judah deserves to be in the hall

[tennessee]

Mayweather couldnt break eggs, thats why he didn't eat breakfast

[margaret thatcher]

19 world title bouts, fought 15 world champions, a world champion at 140lbs, a three-time world champion at 147lbs, a RING Magazine champion, a top-ten pound-for-pounder, an undisputed champion at welterweight and the list of accomplishments goes on-and-on.

Zab Judah is vastly more accomplished than existing Hall-of-Famers like Barry McGuigan, Arturo Gatti and Ingemar Johansson.

And like I said before, even if Judah never gets inducted into the IBHoF, he’ll almost certainly be included in the voting ballot in five years’ time.

Judah deserves to be in the hall

I think he's boarderline at best and he lost to every single opponent who really could have boosted his case to another level--Cotto, Kostya, Floyd, the recently HOF debated Garcia,. To me he is more like a Cory Spinks, who Zab of course lost to and beat . Aside from that he has some good solid wins mixed in with some not so good losses. Just not enough for me to really be enthusiastic about his case.

Like anyone else it depends who else is on the ballot at the time, people always bring up the weakest guys in the hall but they aren't gonna be the ones on the ballot, the competition will be vs loads of guys who also did more in their careers than Arturo Gatti and co. Using the weakest guys as the standards is pretty weak both in that they aren't the ones on the ballot and that just going by the lowest will serve to reduce the quality of the hall.