We’ve tried to hit every angle on Floyd Mayweather vs. Shane Mosley here, but there’s one I left out, which we can use to kick start this here Open Thread:
Where does Floyd Mayweather rank in boxing history?
Here’s my partial perspective: Mayweather thinks he’s #1 forever and ever, which is wildly wrong, but of course, plenty of boxers have thought that about themselves and a kind of egomaniacal self-belief can be beneficial (even if Mayweather’s makes him sound doofus-y). No boxing historian takes seriously the idea that Mayweather is the best ever; I interviewed a few of them months ago for The Sweet Science, and nobody had him higher than the top 30. Over the weekend, though, Mayweather, did two things that he hadn’t done much of lately, the lack of which had held him back with those boxing historians: 1. Showed he could deal with adversity, rebounding wonderfully from Shane Mosley rocking him to re-take control of the fight; and 2. Fought someone who could qualify as “best available competition.” And watching it, it confirmed once more that he would’ve almost surely beaten all the people he didn’t fight who were elite pound-for-pound fighters in and around his weight over the years: Joel Casamayor, Acelino Freitas, Kostya Tszyu, Ricky Hatton (at junior welterweight), Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, Paul Williams, Manny Pacquiao. Such a waste! Would there be any question about Mayweather’s place in history if he had fought and beaten all or even most of those men then? But he’s 33 years old and there’s still time for him to fight a few of them. His all-time ranking is still moving. I’ll see what you say, then give you my approximate number for where he is now.
Remember, though: Open Thread is for you, by you. Bring up the things YOU want to discuss, too.
In the meantime, here’s your Open Thread music selection. I’ve been re-listening to all my Mercury Rev records, the early experimental stuff to the more pop-oriented later stuff, and because I don’t have this particular album, I keep YouTubing this song:
