It is no secret that Floyd Mayweather Jr. look at himself with high regard when it comes to boxing.
People give him that with the fact that he remains unbeaten in 48 matches and is the world's highest earning athlete.
However, when it comes to the question of who is the greatest ever in the sport, he and the public have different opinion. Now, with his latest statement, looks like he will be put again in a bad light among boxing fans.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. declared himself as the greatest boxer of all time. That is pretty expected from him. However, what's startling about his claim is that Muhammad Ali, who many boxing fans look up to as the saint of the sport, is only at fifth place before Roberto Duran, Pernell Whitaker, and Julio Cesar Chavez, and him.
He made these comments during a visit to Los Angeles, California to promote his upcoming fight against Andre Berto.
“We not going to be biased. One thing about us is we gonna have an open mind," he started when asked who are the top five greatest boxers of all time.
"Every champion up here, I respect totally. These are the guys who paved the way for me.”
He continued by dragging his picture to the no.1 spot on the board then talked in third person about himself.
“He's beaten more world champions than any other fight right here (pointing to other options) and he's done it with less fight. He’s done it in a shorter period of time than any other fighter up here. And he’s done it in less fights than any other fighter up here. Record-breaking numbers all around the board: pay-per-view, live gate, landed punches on the highest percentage and took less punishment.”
The surprising part of Floyd Mayweather Jr's list is placing Muhammad Ali in fifth place. Ali is called many names such as “The Greatest” and “The People's Champion.”
Although he insisted that he respects the boxer tagged as "Sports Personality of the Century" by the BBC, Floyd Mayweather Jr insisted that the losses accumulated by Ali already counts off the latter in greatest ever discussion.
His arguments are:
"Muhammad Ali lost to Leon Spinks, and Leon Spinks only had seven fights when he beat him."
"He was only at one weight class."
"Ali really lost all three times to Ken Norton."
“This is me just being honest.”
Floyd Mayweather JR don't look up to Muhammad Ali when talking about boxing numbers but he did acknowledge the latter's influence on the current generation of boxers and the African-American community.
"Ali was the greatest for standing up in an era where black people didn't stand up for each other," he said.
Is Floyd Mayweather Jr right about Muhammad Ali?
