Floyd Mayweather Jr. has one of the most bizarre all-time boxing rankings we have ever seen.
Mayweather (48-0, 26 KOs) appeared on ESPN Deportes Monday and was asked to rank his top five boxers ever. The 10 names he was given to choose from included himself, Roberto Duran, Pernell Whitaker, Julio Cesar Chavez, Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Leonard, Sugar Ray Robinson, Henry Armstrong and Rocky Marciano. The names left out of Mayweather’s top five would drive most boxing historians crazy, and his selection for the No. 1 spot should not surprise anyone. He also showed a predilection for smaller fighters, placing many lightweights in the top four spots.
Here are his rankings:
1) Floyd Mayweather – Mayweather defending placing himself first by saying he has beaten more champions with less fights than any other fighter. He also says he holds records for pay-per-view buys and live gates. He argues that he landed a higher percentage of punches and took less punches than anyone else, and he did it across five weight classes.
2) Roberto Duran – Mayweather says he “loves” Duran and describes him as a “legend.” He cites his work in beating Sugar Ray Leonard and moving up in multiple weight classes.
3) Pernell Whitaker – “He knew how to win,” Mayweather says. He argues that Whitaker beat Julio Cesar Chavez and “didn’t lose until the end of his career.”
4) Julio Cesar Chavez – He was 80-0 before he lost.
5) Muhammad Ali – He really lost all three times to Ken Norton, Mayweather argues. “This is mean just being honest. It’s really hard.” Mayweather also suggests Ali’s ranking on a historical scale has more to do with him being a social activist. “What Ali did was he stood for a cause in an era where African-Americans didn’t stand up for their people.”
A few things you’ll notice about Floyd’s rankings is that he included two Hispanic fighters in his top four, perhaps as a way to cater to the ESPN Deportes audience. He also omitted Marciano, perhaps to separate himself from the only other champion to never lose. And he included plenty of space between him and Ali to really emphasize a difference between himself and the man many others consider to be the best ever.
Oh, and did I mention that Mayweather likes his light/middle weights? He only had one heavyweight in his top five!
Even though Mayweather is despised and a terrible person (seriously, read all this), his record in the ring is flawless. Yes, he did fight many top fighters at the end of their careers — Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, Arturo Gatti to name a few — and he waited years to finally face Manny Pacquiao, but he also never once lost and he has beaten plenty of strong fighters. He beat top contenders like Angel Manfredy, Chico Corrales, Jose Luis Castillo and Zab Judah during their primes earlier in his career. And while he ducked Pacquiao and is avoiding Amir Khan and Gennady Golovkin, Mayweather does not get nearly enough credit for beating Miguel Cotto, Canelo Alvarez, Juan Manuel Marquez and Marcos Maidana in recent years. Those are all very tough fighters, and Mayweather handled them all well, especially Canelo, who is one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world.
I would have liked to see Mayweather fight guys in different orders and face more tougher contenders from fight to fight, but his record in the ring is indisputable. So many guys lost early or late in their careers, or they fell to another strong fighter during their prime. Not Mayweather. He has been superb, and he is my No. 1 fighter ever. As for the rest of his top five … well, if you’re not even going to include Joe Louis, don’t even bother with me.
