Many boxers of the last twenty years can indeed credit their success to a lack of talent in the sport. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is not one of them. He would have been a top contender in any era. Lightning fast speed, ridiculous defensive skills, and a brain for boxing translate to any period of time. However, I can confidently say that Floyd would have been involved in some wars, in some cases 15 round wars, something he has never, ever had to do. While Floyd is an incredible fighter, let’s be honest, the guy overmatches every one of his opponents by a country mile. A synchronized swimmer has to worry about brain damage more than Floyd as the guy never gets hit. He has fought a few worthy opponents including Zab Judah, Shane Mosley, Miguel Cotto, and Oscar De La Hoya. Judah is just a couple of steps below Floyd in terms of raw talent so this was an easy one to call. Shane Mosley, while a great fighter, wasn’t good enough to beat Floyd at his own game. Cotto was a very worthy opponent but again did not have the raw talent or the strategy to take out Floyd and De La Hoya, the best of the bunch, was tremendously past his prime, and apparently, according to him, possibly drunk. Mayweather has been a victim of his own dominance. Here are a few fighters that would have given Floyd Mayweather a serious run for his money and maybe even handed him a loss.
(As Mayweather has the ability to go up and down in weight classes, the following boxers are from weight classes Floyd could realistically fight in)
Aaron Pryor: Aaron “The Hawk” Pryor, this guy was an animal. He held the title of Junior Welterweight Champ from 1980 to 1985 and fought 220 fights as an amateur. He retired with a record of 39 wins with 35 coming by way of knockout and 1 loss. Pryor very well may have put Floyd down if they fought while both in their prime. His specialty was not really having a specialty. He was fast, hit hard, and had a seemingly endless supply of energy. I mean seriously, many of his fights looked like they were straight out of a movie. The guy had the ability to rush his opponent and thrown nonstop punches for a whole round. He destroyed Alexis Arguello, a fantastic fighter, twice, using exactly this strategy. Frankly, I don’t know if Floyd Mayweather could hold up to that kind of beating from such a talented fighter. Even Floyd’s speed and defensive skills would be rendered all but useless as Pryor would chase him. This is a hard fight to call and one that I would pay a bundle to see.
Meldrick Taylor: Taylor hails from the fighting city of Philadelphia. He is an Olympic Gold Medal winner and had an amateur boxing record of 99-4. His professional record is 38-8. One thing that needs to be said about Taylor is that he is all heart. He’s one of those fighters where you can tell he’s fighting his heart out, refusing to go down. Taylor’s big moment came when he fought Julio Cesar Chavez, a boxer of beyond legendary status. Going into the fight Chavez was 68-0 and Taylor was 24-0. Taylor controlled the fight in the beginning but Chavez was landing a steady flow of punches and everybody knows Chavez hits like a mini Foreman. In the final round of the fight Chavez felt he needed a knockout and Taylor felt the scorecards were too close for comfort. They went toe to toe and Chavez knocked Taylor down with ten seconds left. Taylor got up at 6 and for some insane reason that still baffles boxing fans to this day, the ref called the fight with two seconds left in the fight.
Oscar De La Hoya (In His Prime): De La Hoya in his prime was an animal. He had speed; he had tremendous power, great movement, and was smart in the ring. Let’s face it, when he fought Mayweather he had been done for a year or two. His head just wasn’t in boxing. He’s worth a billion dollars and he’s admitted to dressing in drag and taking shots of Patron before fights which doesn’t help the situation any. What we saw from these two was ridiculous but you put De La Hoya in his prime in the ring with Mayweather and he has some serious problems. First, you have the size advantage, Mayweather is a big 154and Mayweather couldn’t legitimately weigh154 if he ate 50 burgers off the George Foreman grill. The reach would have been a big problem for Floyd. He would have had to fight from deep inside which I don’t doubt he could have done but that’s always a tough strategy. De La Hoya would have been able to keep him at bay with a steady jab. Mayweather would have had to do a lot, and I mean a lot, of running. While he was running, De La Hoya could have been scoring points with pitter pat jabs. I don’t put anything past Floyd so it wouldn’t have been a definite loss but I could easily see an in his prime De La Hoya taking this one by decision.
Sugar Ray Leonard: “The Golden Boy” and “The Pretty Boy” before De La Hoya or Mayweather were around Sugar Ray Leonard was a hell of a fighter. There’s little doubt that Floyd’s style at least partially was influenced by that Leonard. Leonard was that lethal combination of a puncher and a boxer. While he loved to dance and shuffle the man could hit, hard, with 25 knockouts to prove it. Due to their similarity in styles, this is a hard one to call. I’m not a Mayweather hate who claims he doesn’t have any power. I believe Mayweather has a deceivingly hard jab. Again, it’s a matter of us never seeing Floyd have to throw a barrage of hard shots. Floyd’s Achilles heel here would be his lack of experience in real battles in the ring. Sugar Ray’s stamina was incredible, every bit as good as Floyd’s, if not better, and rumor has it that Floyd would fight full 15 round fights at training camp just to get prepared. If Floyd was dealing with a guy who has a style very similar to his own with similar speed who fought real 15 round bouts for fun I’m not sure he could handle it. This would be a war.
Marvin Hagler: Marvelous Marvin Hagler is one of the most underrated fighters of all time. The guy was just a monster. He was fast, tough, relentless, strong, like I said, a monster. This scary southpaw spent most of his career trying to get somebody good to fight him. Seriously, nobody would fight him. Along with the fact that he was a southpaw he wasn’t much of a draw. He wasn’t a flashy guy, didn’t talk a lot, just a great fighter who wanted his rightful shot at the title. He finally did get that shot at the title against Alan Minter whom he destroyed. Hagler held onto the title for nearly seven years. Hagler would have given Mayweather hell with his Southpaw style and slashing offense. He likely wouldn’t have been very intimidated by Mayweather’s speed or flashy footwork. Hagler also hit hard which would definitely throw Mayweather off. Look, the guy used to run his miles in Army boots, backwards. No, I’m serious about that.
Julio Caesar Chavez: This Mexican legend is an anomaly in every sense of the word. Besides having more heart than Rocky Balboa and hit like a mule. Seriously, Chavez’s punching power is storied and with 86 knockouts it’s not hard to see why. Another attribute Chavez was known for was his notoriously hard head. This guy could take a punch like nobody’s business. He took plenty for well over a 100 fights and still seems to be in good shape. Chavez lost horribly to an in-his-prime Oscar De La Hoya, like really took a serious beating, but in his defense he was nearing the end of his career. His insane ability to take a punch as well as his ability to hit like a Mack Truck would have left Mayweather stunned. He’s never had to fight anybody with that level of power. He would likely rely heavily on his defense and not throw many punches. This one would be a war.
Thomas Hearns: Besides winning five titles in 5 different weight classes and detaching Sugar Ray Leonard’s retina this guy’s nickname is the Hitman, usually not a good sign for opponents. Hearns had a killer jab and he stands at 6’1. With that kind of height and reach advantage over Mayweather it’s hard to imagine how Floyd would have handled it. His slick defensive style wouldn’t have done much to stop Hearns from flicking that hard, precise jab into his face all night. This style would have definitely thrown Mayweather off his game mentally and off balance physically. He would have had to get way inside and chopped down the body of Hearns which would have been no easy task as Hearns wasn’t slow and he was definitely strong. After popping that jab all night it would only be a matter of time before Hearns could sneak in a strong hook despite Floyd’s elusiveness in the ring. Mayweather would be heavily relying on his speed and his power might not be enough against the Hitman. This would be a tough one for Floyd.
Article By: Jon DaBove
