With Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao just about two weeks away, "Money" Mayweather's been suspiciously quiet and benign. That changed a bit as boxing's biggest heel did heelish things recently. He staked his claim that he's the greatest boxer of all time and threw some shade at Muhammad Ali in the process.
Mayweather criticized Ali for his "rope-a-dope" strategy against George Foreman. Then undefeated, Foreman pounded on-and hurt-Ali for several rounds, but eventually wore out and couldn't defend himself. Ali then went on the offensive and finished Foreman in the eighth round. The strategy is widely regarded as brilliant, but Mayweather thinks differently.
"Take punishment and let a man tire yourself out from beating you? You hit him with a few punches and go down and quit and you want to be glorified for that?" Mayweather asked. He also referenced Ali's loss to Leon Spinks as evidence that Ali faced comparatively lower-level opposition.
"Leon Spinks only had seven fights," he said. "Never put a fighter in there with Floyd Mayweather with seven fights."
Mayweather even invoked the name of the great Sugar Ray Robinson in the discussion. "No one can ever brainwash me to make me believe that Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali were better than me," he said.
It wasn't all hate. Mayweather also said this. "I'm going to take my hat off to those guys and respect them because those are the guys that paved the way for me to be where I'm at."
Mayweather often sports gear adorned with the letters "TBE," which stands for "The Best Ever." This is what makes his May 2 bout vs. Manny Pacquiao so anticipated. The key to his claim is that no fighter has been able to solve him and hand him a loss. Many feel that Pacquiao's southpaw style and relentless offense might be the antidote for Mayweather's masterful defense. Should Mayweather take a loss vs. Pacquiao, his boasts about Ali and Robinson may need revision.
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