Mayweather: Untried, Unproven and Untested at Welterweight
"How can he call himself the best if he hasn’t conquered anyone significant yet?".
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Tungod, Inabanga, Bohol – Fresh from his relatively and expectedly easy conquest of Mexican lightweight champ Juan Manuel “Dinamita” Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KOs), Ring Magazine #2 rated pound for pound “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather, Jr.(40-0-0, 25 KOs) remains untried, unproven, and untested in the welterweight ranks. Time and again, staying true to his fighting style of keeping it safe, the flamboyant American continues to traverse the easy route, staying clear of legitimate threats to his unbeaten status.
While the rest of the boxing world are dumbfounded by the surprisingly high Mayweather-Marquez pay-per-view output of about 1 million buys, one can’t help but wonder whether or not the self-proclaimed best fighter will ever get out of his shell and take on someone who poses a legitimate challenge. It might seem like decades ago when Mayweather last fought someone who falls under that category. He was still a lightweight then and his opponent was Jose Luis Castillo, who, by the way, happens to be reportedly designated as pound-for-pound best Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao’s (49-3-2, 37 KOs) chief sparring mate in preparation for his welterweight clash with Miguel Angel Cotto (34-1-0, 27 KOs) of Puerto Rico this November. As a lightweight, Mayweather was a warrior, a beast, and was rarely criticized with his choice of opponents. The same cannot be said of him north of the 135-lb weight limit.
One might argue that Mayweather’s gifted physical attributes and uncanny skill set, coupled with superb conditioning and ring smarts, in comparison to his past opponents as the primary basis of all this prejudice. Is he really that good or is he merely just a product of careful matchmaking? Unless proven otherwise, I’m more quite inclined to believe the latter.
Floyd is listed at 5 feet and 8 inches (5’8”) with a 72-inch reach. Why am I mentioning these stats? Try to check Floyd’s list of previous opponents and see if you can find any of them, apart from Oscar De La Hoya, who has both advantages in size and reach over him. If you are successful, then you can stop reading and I will certainly rest my case. If you can’t, then read on and know the facts.
Let’s talk about “effective reach”, which is a factor of both height and reach. It’s not only the reach that determines how far a fist can travel. Effective reach is also directly proportional to height. Throughout his career, Mayweather has enjoyed the effective reach advantage in all but one of his foes.
Now going back to the untried, unproven, and untested argument, let’s try to dissect each of the fighters that Floyd has fought at welterweight, namely; Mitchell, Judah, Baldomir, De La Hoya, Hatton, and just recently, Marquez. No disrespect, but I could care less about Mitchell. Judah gave Floyd fits in the early goings of the fight, but as expected, once again fell prey to his own impatience and undoing. Baldomir became significant only after his shocking upset of Zab Judah, making the erstwhile welterweight champ once again do the “chicken dance.” Then again, he was tad slow and taylor-made for Mayweather. De La Hoya couldn’t pull the trigger in the later rounds… oh by the way, that fight was at light middleweight so technically, De La Hoya doesn’t count among them. Hatton was undefeated, but unfortunately, it was at 140 lbs and Floyd was just too big, too strong, and too fast for him. In his return after about a two-year hiatus from the sport, Floyd came back and cherry picked a lightweight in Marquez.
An encounter against at least two legitimate threats at welterweight, probably and hopefully against the winner of the Sugar Shane Mosley – Andre Berto and Miguel Angel Cotto – Manny Pacquiao faceoffs could most likely change my impression about Floyd. Well, he can also add Antonio Margarito in the list if he likes. He’ll perhaps take Pacquiao, not just because he’s the most lucrative fight out there for him, but also since the Pinoy idol is literally the smallest among the names mentioned. Well, we might one day see Money Mayweather man up and fight any of these guys. I hope he does… but until he finally steps on the gas and faces someone his size and/or caliber, Mayweather will remain just as he is in my eyes – merely a prospect at welterweight.
Comments are highly appreciated. You can email them to reylanloberternos@yahoo.com.ph
32 Comments
man oh man,mayweather vs hatton was fought at 147 welterwght limit ,hatton challenged mayweather,not the other way around.
tanga tong si abusayaf.. welterweight nga dini-discuss na mga nilabanan ni mayweather eh!!! Hatton was undefeated but at 140 lbs yun ang sabi pero sa welterweight nga sila naglaban kasi nga ang topic is welterweight fights ni mayweather… hina ng comprehension mo boy!!!
Hit the head of the nail..bang on..Mr Reyland…
Its really a mystery why other analyst or writers consider Gayweather getting into #2 on their lb-for-lb when in fact he fought a lightweight at best.
Tell me im not being paranoid, but i see an unseen hand, trying to launch a propaganda for Fraudweather and against a potential fighter this Deceiver could face in the short term.
Fraudweather is a big Fraud and i dont buy his goodie-goodie way recently…its a show…and not his natural character
Why Floyd mayweather jr came back and cherry picked a lightweight Marquez because marquez was an easy prey. A sure win would payoff his due to the IRS . Everyone’s was fooled to believed marquez canl pull the trigger. common!!! with that 20 LBS diffrence? A win is a win but cheating is unacceptable.
Pretender… it was KOSTYA TSZYU who made ZAB JUDAH do the CHICKEN DANCE, not BALDOMIR.
you kinda have a SPANGLISH first name though, REY is KING in spanish + LAND you get KINGLAND.
chè nome di merda!!!
UU nga! Tanga mu Abusayaf! Before you comment I think you should read through the article firstr. Then decipher the subject at hand.
Okay pumpkin?
Aiyayai! anu ba kayo maq aaway pa k u? basta ang alam ko nxt na makakalaban ni mayweather eh si marvin sonsona o kaya si ivan calderon… no need to argue, ok?
That is how Mayweather deals with his victims.. He waits for someone to call him up. Then he will check his “computers” the threat (to pre-select accordingly as a prey) that the fighter could offer (pose) on the squared ring. The lesser the threat the bigger the options to accept the challenge. He he he.. Now, if he is really a man enough, he should accept the challenge of MOSLEY. or He may accept the challenge when MOSLEY is already a 50years old man. Hek hek hek hek.
floyd clearly is cherry picking his opponents. he just won’t take risks and picks opponents he seems he has all the advantages. i juz don’t know why he was the number 1p4p before as he has no opponent that can bring significance to what he is. i prefer mosley and cotto as most dangerous boxer than him as they both can fight belt2belt and wouldn’t RUN AWAY. how could he be the number 2 p4p jus by winning a SMALL LIGHTWEIGHT OLD MAN? he didn’t even knocked him out inspite all of the advantages and the cheating of the weight. SHAME on those putting him at #2 p4p today!!! SHAME ON U!!!
Mayweather is a very skillful boxer. No doubt about that. However, they’ve done a very good in picking & choosing who he fights. He has fought tomato cans, smaller men, or washed up big names like De La Hoya.
He retired rather than face Miguel Cotto 20 months ago. Let’s see him move up and fight legit big name Middleweights.
tinuod dyud na bay reylan, bisag unsa pa sya ka maayo, yalawan lang gihapon sya kay di man sya musukol sa mga top welterweights sa una ug karon. Nakahinumdom ba ka nga nag ‘retire’ gane kunuhay sya kay hadlok man syang moaway nila cotto, margarito, williams ug mosley. Loslos aning tawhana LOL.
If Floyd was bigger, faster than Hatton, then how much more he will be against Manny? Hatton is bigger than Manny! So, PARTIDA na naman yan. If Manny vs Floyd materializes, chances are Floyd will OUTRUN again the smaller Pacquiao. Boxing is dead again with this black american loudmouth runner!
Di si calderon o si Sonsona makakalaban ni mayweather bakla…
si Donie nietes, malaki pa nga si Calderon at 108lbs
si nietes bagay sa kanya at 105lbs…
Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
one guide maybe to test whether you are the best is – name the best at 147-mosley, paul williams,margarito,cotto,clottey..now, gaywheaher is a welterwieght? guys, guys, guys, is gayweather a welterweight?.. how come he was not able to fight these guys???.. is baldomir, judda, aging de la hoya, aging gatti great welterwieghts.. common gaywheather you can only fool a few guys but not all.
I am a Filipino and I beg to disagree. I believe that even if Floyd Mayweather will fight Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, Margarito, etc. he has a big chance of winning. The only problem is that Mayweather is more of a very smart businessman than a legendary boxer. As long as his strategy works…http://pacquiao-vs-mayweather-boxingnews.blogspot.com/
naghulat ko sa fight nila ni pacquiao… tan awn nko unsa ka lig-on silang duha,… hehehehheheh mao ra nah…
jo-jo
buang mong tanan he will fight MILEY SIRUS OR MEGAN FOX
Floyd is a pure businessman who pretends to be a great sportsman. He uses his skills in boxing to earn money and yes he made a great job with it. He will never fights Mosley, Cotto, Margarito, William or even Clotey and of course most of all he will never fights Manny even though there’s a lot of money in this fight. They are so dangerous who could inflict so much pain in him and he has no heart to deal with it. Unlike Manny, he is not ready to see his blood dropping on the canvass and wearing the face of a dog. He can’t imagine how he bears that situation especially when he hears someone shouting at him asking a very simple question “Floyd, are you OK?” and almost everybody is celebrating his fall and laughing at him. How? just how?
mosley called out gayweathers name like marquez did…lets just wait if mosley’s call will be granted…but i think, floyds eyes are on ivan calderon….will you watch them fight? he he he
DP:
Just one query to all hallelujah Mayweather PPV and live gate sales. An apples to apples comparison do you think it would generate that amount of sales if the event was held at the original date of july instead of september? If i\’m not mistaken that even is almost 3 months overdue ya digg?
Kana lami na,,, Mayweather VS. Ivan Calderon. hahahaha
why does he belong to top 10 p4p even though he beat a lightweight in his division which is welterweight?
pacman fights in different weight classes, that`s why they call him pound for pound. not because you`re undefeated you can be number one.
Fraud Mayweather will NEVER fight Mosley or Cotto. Fraud has difficulties with big opponents that come at him. Even the overrated Hatton gave him fits when he went straight at him. Castillo went straight at him and beat him in their first fight. Oscar was winning when he went straight at him.
Marquez is not that type of fighter. He tried to be what he is not, that’s to attack and become the aggressor. He don’t know how to attack, he has always been at him best when his opponent attack him.
This point was shown when Marquez nailed Fraud a few times in the second round when Fraud tried to move in for the kill.
Pacman has lesser chance of beating Gayweather than those top 5 legitimate welter boxers because of reach difference. Fraud Mayweather would just play Pacman all 12 rounds.
gayweather has always had trouble with speedy little southpaws. he’s been tagged by judah using counter righthooks and counter left straights. and castillo was effective using presure (not a lefty though), pacman has it. he’s gonna hit gayweather with punches that he wont even see coming…
hehehe.. talawan na si weather sa mga dagko nga kalaban.. salig rana siya sa gamay.
It’s a pity for gayweather. Want to be called the best, but is too afraid to fight the best-in-his class: Mosley, Cotto & Margarito! That’s the main reason why he retired before, and the main reason that he’ll retire again if forced to fight the best welterweights! It’s a shame for Yahoo to vote him as No. 1 P4P King this month when he has even no welterweight belt to hold! And shame also to the GBP-run Ring Magazine for making gayweather no. 2 welterweight when he’s avoiding Mosley, Cotto & Margarito! If fraudweather really wants to be truly the best P4P & no. 1 welter, accept the challenge of current no. 1 welter, WBA Champ Mosley, or fight WBO & unheralded IBF Welter Champ Cotto! You can’t hide & escape from the best … face your nightmare or retire again!!! No excuses fraud gayweather!
borat, why would floyd need to fight middleweights? he doesn’t need to. If pac is fighting bigger men, does it follow floyd, or anybody else, should do the same? i don’t see the point. he just need to fight the best in his division. if he fights the middleweights, that’s up to him, but he doesn’t need to.
i agree with this article, floyd is untested in the welterweight division. i also agree that he is a very good boxer. those who don’t are just simply blind or they don’t want to accept it.
boxingfan, do you know what is p4p. it doesn’t mean you have to fight different weight classes. floyd is back on top because his last showing was very good and he was the p4p before he retired, regardless of who he beat upon his return. I don’t agree with that, but that is how he got the top spot. to me, pac is #1 and floyd is at #2. until they meet, we won’t know for sure.
Excuses, excuses, excuses. Bottom line. Mayweather is 40-0. Stop hating and start trying to figure out how to beat him. But good luck on that.
p.s. You failed to mention that he called Mosley out in 99 and 04 and Mosley ducked and dodged him. Furthermore, the “majority” of the fans want to see him fight Pacman, not Mosley. But I’m sorry to say, Pacman is going to lose to Cotto. So Mayweather will fight and beat Cotto in his next fight.
I love to read opinions of boxing fans. Well researched, well spoken points. I may not agree with everything, but I can agree that this is a good article.
Money is by far the most gifted boxer there is today. Reylan Loberternos I don’t think you fully appreciate the skill that Mayweather brings to the ring. He can easily beat any of those top ww of right now. When ever Cotto disposes of Pacman hopefully will see the fight between Cotto and Money for the ring mag title. Cotto is a proven fighter with only one loss to Margacheto with his plaster hands. I saw that fight and if it was not for that Cotto would of easily beat him.