Where Does Floyd Rank Among the Top Welterweights? - Boxing Lines

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Some believe Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the greatest boxer of all time. Others believe he’s in the Top 5. Still others believe he’s in the Top 10 but not the Top 5. Then there are those who don’t even believe he’s the best welterweight to ever fight, which is why we’ve come out with our own rankings. So, where does Money Mayweather rank on the list of greatest welterweights of all time? Let’s find out so you can start planning ahead your bets and place them against our Floyd Mayweather odds for the upcoming fight.

5 Greatest Welterweight Boxers Since 1964

We’ve got some rules for our list. First, we’ve only added fighters who primarily fought at welterweight, or who made their name in the weight-class. That knocks out a fighter like Roberto Duran. Second, we’re only looking at boxers who were part of the modern era.

We’re counting the modern era as when Muhammed Ali, then called Cassius Clay, beat Sonny Liston on February 25, 1964. Check out the list!

Thomas Hearns – Early in his career, everyone called Tommy the Motor City Cobra. But after he won his first 17 fights via KO or TKO, they switched his name to The Hit Man. Before facing Ray Leonard, and losing a fight he had in the bag, Hearns had built a 32-0 with 29 KO / TKO record. The loss didn’t derail his career. Instead, he won belts all the way up to light heavyweight.
Sugar Ray Leonard – Leonard’s career got derailed due to a detached iris. He could have gone blind. The iris got detached in his brutal come from behind victory over Hearns. Leonard would be higher on this list if he had beaten Duran in a third fight before retiring and then coming back as a middleweight. He’d also would have been higher on this list had he beaten Hearns in a rematch a year after the come back win. Leonard was great, but it’s hard to put him in the top 3.
Manny Pacquiao – Pacquaio could easily climb this list. The reason? He’s active and will have a fight in 2021. Manny doesn’t shy away from competition, either. In his last fight, he beat a then undefeated Keith Thurman. Manny beat all of them, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez, and Erik Morales. The only contemporary he didn’t beat was Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Oscar De La Hoya – Boxing fans don’t give fighters like Floyd and Oscar credit because, for some reason, we don’t like them as individuals. Oscar gets kudos because, like Manny, he fought everybody. He mostly beat everyone as well, including Arturo Gatti, Julio Cesar Chavez, Pernell Whittaker, and Ike Quartey. The losses to Shane Moseley and Felix Trinidad could have gone the other way while he pretty much ended Fernando Vargas’ career. De La Hoya, with Golden Boy Promotion, continues to promote the sport.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. – Anybody who doesn’t make Money Mayweather first on the list has something personal against the guy. Was Floyd exciting? Not always. But did Floyd make almost every opponent he faced look silly? Always. Defense wins fights and Floyd fought with the best defense in the history of the sport.

Also, nobody can deny that Floyd fought and beat great fighters. Deigo Corrales was 33-0 when Money knocked him out in the tenth round. Ricky Hatton was undefeated at 43-0. Canelo was 42-0 and that was at Super Welterweight. Yes, Manny had a bum shoulder in the 2015 fight, but anybody who watched it saw that Pac wouldn’t have touched Mayweather with two good shoulders.

Let’s give credit where credit is due. When Logan Paul fights Floyd “Money” Mayweather on February 20, he’s going up against the best welterweight of all time.

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