Pittsburgh Fight Sports Examiner | Scott Heritage
Not so long ago Floyd Mayweather was on the receiving end of a lot of criticism that even his most loyal fans were beginning to agree with.
There were accusations of ducking top opponents, the fallout from the Pacquiao fight that fell apart, and then the revelation that Floyd has been using Xylocane for years.
It was then rumored that while Pacquiao was taking on another decent opponent, Floyd was considering a fight against Matthew Hatton, a fighter not currently ranked in the top 30 at welterweight. The message was clear, Floyd Mayweather was looking for a few easy paydays before he retired for good and wasn't that interested in regaining his previous position as the sports top pound for pound fighter.
Having accepted a fight against top ranked Shane Mosley though, the future is suddenly looking a lot brighter for Mayweather and his long suffering fans. Should he beat Mosley he will effectively be one fight away from regaining his pound for pound status and being the biggest fighter in the world again.
That one fight will be against the universally top ranked Manny Pacquiao, that is if the fight can be made after the PR nightmare that was the first attempt fell flat.
If Mayweather and Pacquiao can't agree to terms though, is there any way that Mayweather can realistically be ranked above Pacquiao again assuming both continue to win?
David Weston, Pittsburgh PA: "Mayweather needs to clean out the entire division without Pacquiao taking any big fights for the next few years. If not then he has to beat Pacquiao"
Eduardo Alvarez, Pittsburgh PA: "Mayweather will be equal to Pacquiao after he beats Mosley, after that they both beat a champion of the same talent level"
While its hard to discount Pacquiao's achievements at numerous other weights, in terms of purely welterweight achievements, I have to agree with Eduardo that both will have achieved a similar amount at welterweight is Floyd beats Shane.
Sure Cotto beat Mosley, but Margarito is the factor that equals this out, having beaten Cotto and lost to Mosley.Most suspect that loaded gloves were what beat Cotto that night, but without proof the records stand at one win a piece for the three former welterweight kings.
Phil Spencer, Greensburg PA: Mayweather is older than Pacquiao, and he has to win more fights in a shorter space of time to get back on top, unless Pacquiao retires soon, Mayweather will always be below him"
This sounds pretty accurate to me Phil, and given that Mayweathr isn't particularly active (certainly no more so than Pacquiao anyway) he has a lot of ground to make up on the champion. The more interesting part of the statement is the idea of what will happen if Pacquiao retires soon.
Before the Cotto fight he intended to have two more fights and then walk away, not that looks like it might have been extended for another couple after that. What matches materialize and how Manny's political career pans out will likely determine this for the most part.
Source: Examiner.com
