BoxRec

Seen a bit on this elsewhere and it made me think about the career of Mayweather and the talk that usually goes with it. At the times he has actually fought, have their been better, tougher options out there for him that could have reasonably been made (igoring Pacquiao).

Whilst he does his utmost to maintain every possible advantage prior to a fight, which is what we all try to do whenever possible, i struggle to think of a fighter that he's really let go. Bradley perhaps, i know Khan is talked about these days but he's really only just put himself in the frame after a bad couple of years and there's always talk of what could have been if he fought Mosley earlier on. At the same time, Mosley went through a bad patch and Mayweather was yet to be the big star.

Is there anyone that people really wish they could have seen lace up against Mayweather at a realistic time?

Paul Williams is the immediate stand out to this question back in 2009 after he beat Antonio Margarito. Had the size at 6ft1 and Southpaw.

Currently I would say Keith Thurman at Welterweight and Erislandy Lara at Light-Middleweight have enough in the bag to give Mayweather a very rough night.

Cotto at 140lbs?

digzee wrote:Cotto at 140lbs?

When Cotto was 140 Arum said they were not ready for Floyd.

Kostya Tszyu would have punched holes in him

IRLangmaid25 wrote:Paul Williams is the immediate stand out to this question back in 2009 after he beat Antonio Margarito. Had the size at 6ft1 and Southpaw.

Currently I would say Keith Thurman at Welterweight and Erislandy Lara at Light-Middleweight have enough in the bag to give Mayweather a very rough night.

In 2009 Mayweather fought JMM then Mosley in 2010. Was Williams really a better option than those? Prior to that he fought De La Hoya and hatton.

There's always going to be names out there that people want him to fight but they are not always an option at the time due to form, injury and profile at the time.

Thurman and Lara are not fighters that people are really bothered about in a few years time. He'll get no credit for beating either

tiny_acres wrote:

digzee wrote:Cotto at 140lbs?

When Cotto was 140 Arum said they were not ready for Floyd.

Weren't they also reluctant to fight hatton at 140 too?

tobyh5 wrote:Kostya Tszyu would have punched holes in him

When should and could they have fought though? Between 02-05 tszyu fought 3 times due to injuries and was a big name. Mayweather wasn't a big star at that point and woild have been seen as too much risk too little reward

He could have fought someone instead of Henry Brussels, although it was an eliminator. To be fair he has pretty much done a who's who.'in hindsight we can all chop and change some. I mean I'd prefer to see someone else's name there instead of victor Ortiz but Ortiz was hot at the time

kamicazze wrote:He could have fought someone instead of Henry Brussels, although it was an eliminator. To be fair he has pretty much done a who's who.'in hindsight we can all chop and change some. I mean I'd prefer to see someone else's name there instead of victor Ortiz but Ortiz was hot at the time

Exactly. I just hear a lot of people say that he should have faced x, y and z but it's just names and no consideration for the actual practicalities of the fight or who he was actually fighting instead.

Ortiz was hot and had the wbc belt that he always chases.

Do i think he's had a perfect career, no. I do think he has fought a consistent high level of opponents and top class names

Williams and margarito would've been good names to have been added to the resume.

And Martinez, but that admittedly is asking a lot.

Agree with the others that Williams and Margarito are the only names missing apart from Pac.

Superfeatherweight: Acelino Freitas, Joel Casamayor
Light weight: Fair play, Castillo was the best guy out there and it was a weak division.
Lightwelterweight: Kosta Tyszyu, Ricky Hatton, Zab Judah. He blatantly avoided the best challenges at this weight and kept calling out Gatti – wouldn’t even mention Tszyu’s name.
Roger Mayweather (who fought Tszyu) even alluded to this in an interview when he said “we all know who the real champ is” when discussing the Gatti fight.
Welterweight: Margarito, Pacquiao, Williams, Prime Cotto


It's easy to say he would have beaten Margarito but at the time he was one of the most dangerous welterweights out there, was huge for the weight and if nothing else would have provided an interesting challenge purely due to his size, strength and punch volume. Tszyu was getting on a bit but his timing, physical strength and big punch would have definitely been a dangerous match up for Mayweather and they knew this.

He's defeated more big name fighters across more divisions than anyone else I can think of - in the last 50 years anyway - but you can't fight everyone.

black panther wrote:Superfeatherweight: Acelino Freitas, Joel Casamayor
Light weight: Fair play, Castillo was the best guy out there and it was a weak division.
Lightwelterweight: Kosta Tyszyu, Ricky Hatton, Zab Judah. He blatantly avoided the best challenges at this weight and kept calling out Gatti – wouldn’t even mention Tszyu’s name.
Roger Mayweather (who fought Tszyu) even alluded to this in an interview when he said “we all know who the real champ is” when discussing the Gatti fight.
Welterweight: Margarito, Pacquiao, Williams, Prime Cotto


It's easy to say he would have beaten Margarito but at the time he was one of the most dangerous welterweights out there, was huge for the weight and if nothing else would have provided an interesting challenge purely due to his size, strength and punch volume. Tszyu was getting on a bit but his timing, physical strength and big punch would have definitely been a dangerous match up for Mayweather and they knew this.

freitas and casamayor is a great shout

he's missing a definitive win, apart from maybe Hatton. Problem with Hatton was he was fighting a guy moving up to a weightclass he shouldn't really have been in.

The 1 thing missing for Floyd is a definitive win over a fighter who is both an all time great & who is in his prime (prime age / prime weight class).

I personally believe Castillo, Hatton and Alvarez were all career defining wins.

Williams would have been a great scalp, same with Kostya at 140 but im not the type to nitpick when your record is as good as Floyd's. He's held to a different standard (mainly due to self promotion) than any other fighter in the world except maybe Wladamir.

black panther wrote:Superfeatherweight: Acelino Freitas, Joel Casamayor
Light weight: Fair play, Castillo was the best guy out there and it was a weak division.
Lightwelterweight: Kosta Tyszyu, Ricky Hatton, Zab Judah. He blatantly avoided the best challenges at this weight and kept calling out Gatti – wouldn’t even mention Tszyu’s name.
Roger Mayweather (who fought Tszyu) even alluded to this in an interview when he said “we all know who the real champ is” when discussing the Gatti fight.
Welterweight: Margarito, Pacquiao, Williams, Prime Cotto

Good list.

Mosely would have been a great fight for him at lightweight, he could have stepped up a division and challenged for Mosleys title.

Cotto was looking awesome at light welter, he should have fought him then, or at 147 years earlier than he did. He should have also fought Hatton at 140 while he was in that division.

Williams and Margarito are standout names he really shouod have fought in their primes.

Then there's Pacquiao, it should have happened 5 years ago.

I give Mayweather props for taking on De La Hoya, but i was not impressed with his performance, he's very lucky he got the nod that night. I also give him full props for fighting Alvarez, he tamed a beast that night.

All in all, i firmly believe Mayweather has been ducking, dodging and cherry picking most of his career. Had he fought all the names on these lists at the right times, i'd bet my house on it he would not be undefeated today.

Yes We Can wrote:I personally believe Castillo, Hatton and Alvarez were all career defining wins.

Williams would have been a great scalp, same with Kostya at 140 but im not the type to nitpick when your record is as good as Floyd's. He's held to a different standard (mainly due to self promotion) than any other fighter in the world except maybe Wladamir.

He lost to Castillo, Hatton was never a welterweight & well.. Alvarez may be a great win, shame about the catchweight, and well, time will tell how good alvarez really is (still not convinced tbh).

stevieb_8006 wrote:Williams and margarito would've been good names to have been added to the resume.

And Martinez, but that admittedly is asking a lot.

would agree steve, unfortunately for floyd miguel cotto showed what great fighters do, and highlighted mayweathers reluctant nature at the same time.
floyd could, and should, be middleweight champion of the world right now

ALI wrote:

black panther wrote:Superfeatherweight: Acelino Freitas, Joel Casamayor
Light weight: Fair play, Castillo was the best guy out there and it was a weak division.
Lightwelterweight: Kosta Tyszyu, Ricky Hatton, Zab Judah. He blatantly avoided the best challenges at this weight and kept calling out Gatti – wouldn’t even mention Tszyu’s name.
Roger Mayweather (who fought Tszyu) even alluded to this in an interview when he said “we all know who the real champ is” when discussing the Gatti fight.
Welterweight: Margarito, Pacquiao, Williams, Prime Cotto

Good list.

Mosely would have been a great fight for him at lightweight, he could have stepped up a division and challenged for Mosleys title.

Cotto was looking awesome at light welter, he should have fought him then, or at 147 years earlier than he did. He should have also fought Hatton at 140 while he was in that division.

Williams and Margarito are standout names he really shouod have fought in their primes.

Then there's Pacquiao, it should have happened 5 years ago.

I give Mayweather props for taking on De La Hoya, but i was not impressed with his performance, he's very lucky he got the nod that night. I also give him full props for fighting Alvarez, he tamed a beast that night.

All in all, i firmly believe Mayweather has been ducking, dodging and cherry picking most of his career. Had he fought all the names on these lists at the right times, i'd bet my house on it he would not be undefeated today.

Why would Mosley have fought Mayweather when he was a lightweight. They were miles apart in terms of profile? You can't blame Mayweather for that.

It's a bit ridiculous to say that if he fought people at the right times he'd have been defeated. When was the right time to fight ODLH, 1999? When was Cotto's prime? He didn't want Mayweather at 140.

I'll say it again about Margarito and Williams. When should he have fought either of them? Who were they a better option at the times he's fought and the opponents he's faced?

tobyh5 wrote:Kostya Tszyu would have punched holes in him

No-one in history punches holes in Mayweather Jr.

He is far too defensively sound for that to have ever happened.

freddydoesdallas wrote:

tiny_acres wrote:

digzee wrote:Cotto at 140lbs?

When Cotto was 140 Arum said they were not ready for Floyd.

Weren't they also reluctant to fight hatton at 140 too?

In my opinion yes.Floyd was only at 140 for a very brief time.When Hatton
beat Tszyu Floyd moved up to 147.
I wish this fight had happened at 140 but I do not think the result would of been any different.

freddydoesdallas wrote:

ALI wrote:

black panther wrote:Superfeatherweight: Acelino Freitas, Joel Casamayor
Light weight: Fair play, Castillo was the best guy out there and it was a weak division.
Lightwelterweight: Kosta Tyszyu, Ricky Hatton, Zab Judah. He blatantly avoided the best challenges at this weight and kept calling out Gatti – wouldn’t even mention Tszyu’s name.
Roger Mayweather (who fought Tszyu) even alluded to this in an interview when he said “we all know who the real champ is” when discussing the Gatti fight.
Welterweight: Margarito, Pacquiao, Williams, Prime Cotto

Good list.

Mosely would have been a great fight for him at lightweight, he could have stepped up a division and challenged for Mosleys title.

Cotto was looking awesome at light welter, he should have fought him then, or at 147 years earlier than he did. He should have also fought Hatton at 140 while he was in that division.

Williams and Margarito are standout names he really shouod have fought in their primes.

Then there's Pacquiao, it should have happened 5 years ago.

I give Mayweather props for taking on De La Hoya, but i was not impressed with his performance, he's very lucky he got the nod that night. I also give him full props for fighting Alvarez, he tamed a beast that night.

All in all, i firmly believe Mayweather has been ducking, dodging and cherry picking most of his career. Had he fought all the names on these lists at the right times, i'd bet my house on it he would not be undefeated today.

Why would Mosley have fought Mayweather when he was a lightweight. They were miles apart in terms of profile? You can't blame Mayweather for that.

It's a bit ridiculous to say that if he fought people at the right times he'd have been defeated. When was the right time to fight ODLH, 1999? When was Cotto's prime? He didn't want Mayweather at 140.

I'll say it again about Margarito and Williams. When should he have fought either of them? Who were they a better option at the times he's fought and the opponents he's faced?

I dont take anything away from him for not fighting Mosley at lightweight, but dont forget attempts were made to make it happen at lightweight. Apparently Mosley wanted $10 million, thats what scuppered it. Either way, it would have been a great fight for Mayweather's resume, had it went ahead he would have faced a true elite fighter in his prime.

I said i give him props for figting De La Hoya. You'd be a fool to think he fought Cotto in his prime. You say Cotto did not want Mayweather at 140, maybe thats true but its all speculation to me, did you hear Cotto say this? Cotto was definately big on fighting Mayweather at 147 around 2007. Mayweather fought him 5 years later in 2012 when most observers believed Cotto to be on the slide.

When should he have Margarito??? I'm not going to waste me time replying to that!

I'm not saying he fought cotto in his prime, I'm asking the question.

Your response about Margarito is either arrogant or you're missing the point. All I'm asking is if you or others think Margarito was the better fight than de la hoya, hatton, marquez, mosley?

It's easy to slag off a fighters record, especially one we don't like but apart from Pacquiao, people aren't going to really be saying that he should have fought anyone else. Did he get as much advantage as possible with timings and weight, yes he did but as he brought big money to the table he had the power to negotiate in his favour.