Damn shame. 147 is stacked. It would have been good to see Mayweather challenged and guys like Margarito/Cotto/Mosely/Williams would all be challenges. Great fights to be made with or without him, but I think all of those guys would have made him put it into another gear/level. He'd be favored, but he'd have to work for it.
I doubt he will stay "retired."
he had no choice but to retire. he never wanted any part of Cotto or Margarito and those fights would have had to happen had he stayed active. once the big money, low risk fights ran up, he would be forced to fight tough legit 147 fighters for half the money. id give him favoritism over Williams, but hed be in deep shit against Margarito, Cotto or Mosley.
he'll fight again, but it will be another carefully picked superfight for alot of money and little risk. then he'll re-retire.
he's an excellent fighter, but he is denying himself greatness by avoiding the real competition at 147
^^^absolutely true....agree with you on this one
I disagree that he didn't like to take risks. He pretty much fought everyone there was to fight at the lower weight.
But at welterweight, he went for the belts and for the highest dollar fights. I have no problem with that.
Shame that his body was falling apart, especially his hands....I'd love to see him in there with the current crop of elite welters.
belts and $ dont always make a lasting legacy though and as a fan thats all i care about. had he beat Margarito and Mosley or Cotto and Williams he would have really made a claim to greatness in an alttime sense.
as it stands he will be just another blip in the sports history. how many great fighters retire in a division without fighting the 4 or 5 best fighters in it?
im a fan of his oddly enough, but he could have done much more. i dont begrudge anyone looking for paydays in this business, but there was real money to be made with the other guys but he instead chose to string along a handful of fights of limited relevance.
I would have liked to see him go after Margarito and Cotto too. But some people would have then criticized him for not going after the linear champion.
The path he chose led to him beating the legit Ring welterweight champ, so it wasn't a bad move for legacy purposes.
nobody would have criticized him for fighting Margarito instead of Baldomir and no one wuld have complained if he fought any of Cotto/Williams/Mosley over either Judah/Mitchell/Hatton
What is dissappointing about Floyd is that he has amazing talent, yet lacks the desire to face the best. To call himself the greatest fighter ever --which he does, sans irony, in most interviews -- is laughable compared to Sugar Ray, Ali and plenty of other guys who took on TONS of tough guys like Margarito, often back to back.
jaseprobst - What is dissappointing about Floyd is that he has amazing talent, yet lacks the desire to face the best. To call himself the greatest fighter ever --which he does, sans irony, in most interviews -- is laughable compared to Sugar Ray, Ali and plenty of other guys who took on TONS of tough guys like Margarito, often back to back.
i couldn't agree with you more...PBF is a genuine boxing talent, but he comes up short when compared to the legendary fighters. when i think of the greats (Chavez, Hagler, Hearns, Duran, etc.) memories of their ring wars come to mind. With PBF, I will always remember that he left some potential legendary matchups on the table.
The Kangaroo - nobody would have criticized him for fighting Margarito instead of Baldomir and no one wuld have complained if he fought any of Cotto/Williams/Mosley over either Judah/Mitchell/Hatton
People like to bag on him, so they would have for sure found something to criticize if he didn't fight Baldomir.
I can already see it now: "Oh sure, Floyd won titles in 5 different weight classes. But he NEVER beat the linear champion at welterweight so it's only really 4 weight classes."
He did the right thing IMO.
Now, to even be considered in the running for "Greatest Ever" he would have to beat Cotto and Margarito and Paul Williams. (And even then he wouldn't be better than Ray Robinson.)
But that's another issue.
jaseprobst - What is dissappointing about Floyd is that he has amazing talent, yet lacks the desire to face the best. To call himself the greatest fighter ever --which he does, sans irony, in most interviews -- is laughable compared to Sugar Ray, Ali and plenty of other guys who took on TONS of tough guys like Margarito, often back to back.
Well put, man. No true boxing fan would ever consider Floyd, the best. Laughable would be an understatement
PoundforPound -The Kangaroo - nobody would have criticized him for fighting Margarito instead of Baldomir and no one wuld have complained if he fought any of Cotto/Williams/Mosley over either Judah/Mitchell/Hatton
People like to bag on him, so they would have for sure found something to criticize if he didn't fight Baldomir.
Thats incorrect. The assumption at the time was that he was going to fight Margarito and when he turned down the 8mil to fight Baldomir instead thats really when people started to criticize his intentions at 147. Baldomir was a perfect excuse, sure he was the belt holder, but everyone yourself included knows that he took that fight because it was easier then a Margarito fight and had a built in excuse.
Real boxing fans want to see the best fights, not irrelevant belt chasing. Had he fought the cream of the crop at 147 nobody would give a shit about what belts they were or were not for. There has never been a time in boxing when belts mean less. Its about fighting the best in the division, something he did not do.
He is a stud no doubt, but the fact that most people look at him as a "what might have been" is telling. He was on the brink of greatness and walked away from the pivotal fights.