Just How Good is Floyd Mayweather? Still Not Better than Manny Pacquiao!

Just How Good is Floyd Mayweather? Still Not Better than Manny Pacquiao!

Ken Hissner (May 2, 2010) Doghouse Boxing (Photo © German Villasenor, Doghouse Boxing)

After all the hype of this fight between Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley I had my doubts going in. Manny Pacquiao blows off Mayweather and Andre Berto ducks Mosley so the two “substitutes” meet. I try never getting into predictions. What I told those who wanted to listen was “if Mayweather can’t beat a 37 year old well past his prime then he can’t be considered one of the best of all time”.

Mosley’s trainer Naziim Richardson warned referee Kenny Bayless in the dressing room before the fight about Mayweather’s use of his left elbow as a tool! “Thanks for bringing that to my attention,” said Bayless. Well, if Bayless didn’t know about Mayweather’s foul tactics by then, Bayless should not have been the third man in the corner going in.

Ali had the hold behind the head, Frazier the left forearm to the throat and who can forget Holmes' straight arm as good as any NFL running back. Mayweather is no exception with the elbow. If I had a dollar for every time Bayless warned him it would have paid for the PPV someone beside me was willing to pay. With or without the elbow he was beating Mosley. Mayweather got off to a poor start with Zab Judah the way Felix Trinidad got off to one with Oscar DeLaHoya. Once they figured him out there was a turning point.

Mosley was there to pick up where De La Hoya left off with Mayweather. De La Hoya has never answered Larry Merchant’s question to anyone’s satisfaction. “Oscar, the jab was working so well, why did you stop using it rounds 8 thru 11,” asked Merchant. Almost in a jesting manner De La Hoya said, “it sure was working good. Wasn’t it Larry?” And? To that so called answer commentator Manny Steward who has worked with De La Hoya said, “that wasn’t a very good answer from someone with his experience.” We all know what De La Hoya who was ahead 4-3 in rounds going into the 8th did. Only he can answer why since there was never a rematch.

Jose Luis Castillo defeated Mayweather in their first fight in April of 2002 and was robbed. In December Mayweather came back to easily defeat Castillo though the scores were closer in the second fight. Holmes had passes with Witherspoon and Carl “The Truth” while Marciano may have had one with LaStarza, to keep the streak going. Mayweather is no exception to the rule.

I believe its going to take a “non American” like Pacquiao to defeat Mayweather. They come in with an attitude of superiority whether it’s the European’s toward white American’s or the Africans toward black Americans. “Pac Man” has no fear of Mayweather. Can Mayweather say the same toward Pacquiao? I believe the blood tests are a perfect example. Who is Mayweather to demand something of Pacquiao who is the best pound for pound and holder of a championship belt? Pacquiao doesn’t need Mayweather like Mayweather needs Pacquiao. Pacquiao is exciting to watch and Mayweather isn’t. The Mosley fight is case in point. In my opinion, De La Hoya picks Mayweather because Pacquiao is with Top Rank and Pacquiao kicked his ass ten times more than Mayweather and he would rather see Pacquiao get his.

More of a distraction for Pacquiao now is his interest in politics in his country of the Philippines than any blood test Mayweather is demanding. “Money” has moved to Las Vegas to claim another advantage when fighting the big fight there. Mayweather has a “clean” look to him unlike the tattoo covered with diamond piercings in each of the ears of today’s “athlete”. Yet, due to his arrogance the people went wild in the first two rounds when Mosley got the best of the “braggart”. Mayweather didn’t want to hear anything from Mosley in the ring after the fight except being bowed down too. He already showed his superiority and didn’t need to hear it confirmed by Mosley’s words. That is the kind of arrogance I am talking about. There is nothing humble about Mayweather. Your not going to hear him first say to the ring interviewer after the fight “first, I want to give credit to….”. It’s all about him!

No matter what Mayweather does, like Hopkins and Holmes, the people will have no respect for arrogance toward others. Ali was in a league of his own. Holmes and Frazier will never give him his just due’s or Foreman for that matter. Only difference is, Foreman became much humbler after his “born again” experience. He gives Frazier whom he destroyed twice the same respect he gives Ali who defeated him. That has only helped with Foreman’s popularity.

When Mayweather claims to be better than Sugar “Ray” Robinson, it’s like Holmes saying he is better than Ali. Anyone with an ounce of boxing brains laughs. Mayweather isn’t even another “Sugar” Ray Leonard let alone Robinson. He doesn’t demonstrate the explosive combinations that either Robinson or Leonard did. How many combinations did you see in the fight with Mosley unless you count an elbow and a right hand. Pound for pound Mayweather is the second best boxer in the world. Unless he defeats Pacquiao or someone else does it first, it shouldn’t change. His hanger on’s will tell you something different. He defeats his opponents while Pacquiao destroys the same opponents and doesn’t boast about it afterwards!
Action speaks louder than words. If you have to tell the world how good you are than there’s something missing. Joe Louis who holds the most defenses in one division let his fists do his talking. So did Rocky Marciano who still holds the best record at the end of a career at 49-0. Mayweather is one of many who at 41-0 may not have eight or nine fights left in him to challenge that.

Mayweather may not put himself in the position of not having “an edge” if he doesn’t have to. Most managers want a 10% edge for their fighters going into a fight. Mayweather has a lot more to lose than Pacquiao in a fight between them. He has the added pressure of risking the “0” in his career. Pacquiao doesn’t always leave it up to the judges like Mayweather does. Especially when he is fighting in a country not of his own. The referee in a match between the two will play a major roll. Pacquiao has as good a trainer in Freddie Roach as there is in the business and certainly has an edge in the corner. Mayweather is 33 and 5’8” to Pacquiao who is 31 and 5’6”, but a southpaw. Both have grown into the 147 pound division with Mayweather starting at 130 and Pacquiao 106. The fun will begin when it comes down to whom gets what percentage now that Mayweather also holds a title.

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