Why Mayweather Will Never Be Considered The Greatest Of All Time

Floyd "Money" Mayweather is one of the greatest boxers in our lifetime, but he is far from the greatest of all time as he claims. Mayweather will have the win/loss record to be in the conversation (maybe), but there is so much more than wins and losses, especially in boxing. The true greats took great risk, were innovators, fought the best of their generation in their prime, and usually beat an opponent they shouldn't have beaten.

Let's look at the self proclaimed greatest of all time, Ali. If you take Ali as just a boxer and nothing else he would be right up there as one of the all time greats. He won a gold at the Olympics, defeated both Sonny Liston and George Forman as huge a underdog, came back from several defeats to win the title, had several epic battles that will go down as some of the best bouts in history, and had an impressive win loss/record. His resume' alone makes him one of the best ever, but what pushes him over the top were his stances on the Vietnam War and his involvement in the Civil Rights movement. He gave up boxing while he was in his prime, because of his beliefs. Name me another top athlete today that would do that?

If you talk to most boxing historians they will tell you that the greatest of all time was Sugar Ray Robinson. He was the person that every fighter after him model their style after, even Ali. Some even named themselves after him (Sugar Ray Leonard Sugar Shane Mosely). Sugar Ray Robinson was 123-1 with 78 KOs. He is the reason why they created the "pound for pound" rankings. He had it all. Speed, balance, footwork, power, stamina, heart, offense, defense you name it, he had it. There has never been a boxer as complete as Robinson. NEVER.

Mayweather is good,
if not great, but what will always keep from a serious discussion of best ever was the fact that he didn't fight the best boxers of his era when they were in their prime. He never really took a fight were he seriously thought he might lose. He is a master businessman and promoter. He knows how to pick and choose when and who to fight. But if you want to be the greatest then you have fight the best when they are at their best. Takes tomorrows super fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao.  This would have been a career defining fight for Mayweather 5-6 years ago when they both were at the top of their game.  But Mayweather waited. He knew the longer he waited the more the fight would be worth and that eventually Pacquiao skills would decline. Now, both fighters are on the backside of their careers and now we get the super fight. This is the number one reason why Mayweather will never be considered the best or even better than Ali like he claims. He had a chance to fight the best in his class when they were both in their prime and he didn't. He waited, but history waits for no man.

Why Sugar Ray Robinson is the greatest

                                                                                                  - Haven Harrington III-