ILovecycling said:
I like to see that somebody here is a big boxing fan (u are english right?
)
I will add few thoughts on your pretty complete and very fine opinions.
American, actually. I seem to be the rare American who is interested in non-heavyweight fighters. I was never much interested in the sport till I spent some time in the Philippines. I know someone there who is very close to Pacquiao's wife, Jinkee.
It's an interesting story. They were students together before she met Manny, and like most Filipinos, very poor. So my friend used to loan Jinkee money. She told me that Manny was originally interested in Jinkee's older sister, but I guess this was before Manny had made a name for himself, and the older sister didn't reciprocate. So Manny turned to Jinkee, who of course is now one of the richest women in the country. (Or maybe not, I've heard Manny is actually in serious debt over income taxes. Like so many great fighters before him, he has given away most of his millions.)
You know its tough to fight against 50% of opponents in their prime, and almost all of them?Thats impossible cuz prime is like 2/3 years in boxer's career and when you fight once a year (which actually was Floyd's case couple of years) its not realistic.
Yes, but Mayweather made it even harder by his infrequent schedule. He took off almost two years from 2007-2009, and then fought only five times in the next four years. It’s only with these last six fights that he’s agreed to fight twice a year.
Its tough cuz when he fought Marquez Cotto was in his prime, when Martinez was in his prime Floyd havent boxed in light middle yet.
No, Cotto was undefeated and in his prime well before Mayweather fought Marquez. Cotto’s career took a big downturn in July 2008 when he lost to Margarito, who was found to have loaded gloves in his next fight, against Moseley. Mayweather could have fought Cotto before then, except that Floyd retired for two years beginning in 2007. Cotto was arguably never the same after the Margarito fight, and certainly not after Manny destroyed him.
The timeline wrt Martinez is also wrong. Floyd fought at 154 lbs vs. de la Hoya in the spring of 2007. Martinez became recognized as a great fighter after his first fight with Williams in Dec. 2009, even though he lost that fight. At the time, Pacquiao had just beaten Cotto, and he and Floyd were in negotiations for a match. When that fell through, Floyd met an over-the-hill Moseley. I can see how he wouldn’t think of Martinez as a reasonable opponent then, but by the end of the year, Martinez had defeated Pavlik and Williams and was fighter of the year. But who does Floyd fight in 2011? Victor Ortiz. And he doesn’t fight again for nearly a year, when he meets a past his prime Cotto. Floyd could have met Martinez, who really had no viable opponents after KOing Williams (who of course subsequently became paralyzed as a result of a motorcycle accident) any time during that period.
I’ll just add that there was no particular reason for Floyd to fight Marquez at all, other than the latter called him out. Marquez had previously passed up a fight with Khan, probably in large part because he didn’t feel comfortable at 140, then meets Mayweather at a catchweight above that, and even then Floyd missed the weight considerably and had to pay him a penalty. Nobody thought Marquez had a chance in that fight. Not only was he much smaller than Floyd, but stylistically it was all wrong for him. Mayweather could have fought Cotto at that time, and when he didn't, Manny did.
About Mosley,I dont have to share my opinion to much cuz you know Floyd was a little kid when he was in his prime years.
Mayweather was already at 140 by 2005, when Moseley was still very good. Even in 2007, Moseley lost a fairly close decision to an undefeated Cotto.
Dont think that Hatton would be a thread to him at any weight,same for Williams cuz Mayweather would have pick him apart with his speed (Williams reach is good,but he is slow like Klitschko)
I agree about Hatton, Williams, who knows. Martinez is or was very fast, yet the first fight with Williams was very close. Martinez won the second with a KO, pretty sure Floyd would not have KOd Williams.
Agreed,I hope he will win and do a match against Mayweather.My most wanted matches:
Mayweather vs Pacquaio
Mayweather vs Martinez
Mayweather vs 'slim' Golovkin
Mayweather vs Maidana II
Mayweather vs Bradley (just KO reason)
Yeah, GGG is very interesting, but we need to see what he can do against better opposition. If Bradley had beaten Pac last month, everyone would have been calling for Floyd to fight him, but he’s another one of Arum’s boys, so not much chance of that.
Broner called out Pacquiao last night, but the fight I'd like to see is Pacquiao vs. Maidana, assuming the latter doesn't get a rematch with Floyd. Two of the heaviest hitters in the division, should be a real slugfest. I had thought Manny should fight Maidana instead of Rios a few months ago, except coming off a KO, he might not have wanted to rehab by going against such a fearsome puncher.
Interesting opinion,I blame Manny (ok,Arum lol
) more because he had 40-60 offer on the table.He just cant ask for more,thats super bs.Mayweather name /brand/behaviour/personality makes fights that big.Nobody can do that,not even that freakin Arum with Pacquiao Bradley II/Marquez VII/alien or whatever.Its ridiculous they didn't accept that.That would have been his biggest paycheck ever in his life (2nd biggest for Arum tho).
When did that happen? Floyd offered Manny a flat amount of $40 million, with no share of the revenue. Manny refused, saying he would accept a 55-45 split. Personally, I always wondered why they didn’t have something like 40-40, with the winner getting the remaining 20%.
Not defending Manny here. There was a tremendous amount of BS from his side, the blood tests, the stadium they supposedly were going to build in Vegas, moving the date of a proposed 2012 fight so that it would conflict with Floyd’s going to jail. But again, I think Floyd needs the fight more for his legacy than Manny needs it for his. Manny had those peak years when he not simply defeated but dominated a series of much bigger fighters, de la Hoya (Manny jumped to 147 after never having fought above 135, and there only once), Cotto, Clottey, Margarito. With the exception maybe of Clottey, there was no question he was facing the best outside of Mayweather that he could.
P.S. - A very interesting
article on Floyd's jail time. Apparently he was really depressed about not being able to work out, and refused to eat almost all food that didn't come in a package for fear of being poisoned. He paid off another prisoner to get extra time outside of his cell, and had some run-ins with guards.
Mayweather quickly figured out the internal economy and politics of jail, the records suggest. After only five days in the facility, officers suspected that Mayweather, named as the world's highest-grossing athlete by Forbes in 2012, was bribing inmates in exchange for favors. During one hour-long session of free time, Mayweather was overheard yelling to an inmate named Paul Lopez, who pled guilty to murder last year and was then serving time for gang-related charges. According to newspaper accounts, Lopez and his co-defendants were indicted for beating a man to death with a bat.
"I am putting $500 on your books -- thanks for looking out," Mayweather told Lopez, the report states. The jail's internal investigation reported that $500 had been placed in Lopez's account by a third party, a person who had also deposited $200 into inmate Nicholas Howard's account. When asked about the payment, according to the report, Howard smiled and said, "It is what it is." The investigating officer then had a conversation with Lopez, who asked the officer if he could trade his privileges with Mayweather. "I want to give him my half hour in the dayroom, and I'll stay in the multipurpose room for my free time," Lopez said, according to the report. Ultimately, no disciplinary action was recommended.