FLOYD MAYWEATHER, who recently announced that his last fight on September 12 will be “with” Andre Berto in Vegas, has caused a stir with his list of the five best fighters of all time, placing himself at number one. His full list is: 1. Floyd Mayweather Jnr, 2. Roberto Duran, 3. Pernell Whitaker, 4. Julio Cesar Chavez, 5. Muhammad Ali.

Now this is one of those debates that has no end. Subjectivity rules the roost and every boxing fan, commentator, writer, fighter — anyone with any interest in the sport, however passionate, has their own opinion on who should be in a list of the five greatest fighters of all time. Even so Mayweather’s list raises eyebrows, first and foremost because he has seen fit to place himself at the top of it — i.e. as the greatest fighter of all time.

Perhaps the interviewer caught him just after a nap, or maybe he was at the wind-up, but somehow I don’t think so. I think he was deadly serious. He went on to explicate in the same interview that he’s got the record for the biggest and second biggest fights of all time in terms of money generated and number of pay per view buys. Good for him, but this still does not translate into bolstering the case for why he is the greatest of all time. For starters they didn’t have pay per view when Jack Johnson, Rocky Marciano, Joe Louis, or Sugar Ray Robinson were around.

If they had, you could stake your housing benefit on Joe Louis v Max Schmeling, both in their first fight in 1936 and in their 1938 rematch, attracting more pay per view buys than every Mayweather fight combined. Similarly when it comes to Jack Johnson v Jim Jeffries in 1910.

We also have to take the quality of opposition into account when comparing ring careers and records. Are we saying that Mayweather was active during the golden age of super featherweights, lightweights, light welterweights, and welterweights? I don’t think so.

This is not to say that he never faced his fair share of genuinely world class opposition. He did. But he also fought his fair share of lesser mortals too, especially after moving himself into a position of such dominance that he became his own promoter and manager, essentially dictating whom he fought, when, and at what weight.
And what is the definition of greatness anyway? Is it an undefeated record, money earned and titles won? Or is it more than those things? Is it the ability to overcome adversity, to return from defeat? Is it also measured in the extent to which a fighter transcended the sport to symbolise something bigger than boxing? Here for obvious example we see how Johnson, Louis, and Ali became the legends they did.
Then there is that unquantifiable quality of “meaning.” How much of it did a particular fighter’s career carry both in and out of the ring? When Cesar Chavez fought, for example, he carried the hopes and pride of an entire country into the ring. Same when it came to Duran.
When it comes to popularity, what about Manchester’s Ricky Hatton? How many fighters could boast of the travelling support he took with him halfway across the world when he fought Mayweather. Spending twenty or thirty quid to watch a pay per view fight is one thing, forking out to fly thousands of miles, buy a ticket and watch a fight live is another entirely. In this regard Hatton has no equal.

Inside the ring we have to look at such variables as style, excitement, courage, technical supremacy, ring generalship, power, aggression, speed and adaptability. Mayweather ticks all of these boxes but some more than others.

For example when it comes to style and excitement who could match Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns, or Marvellous Marvin Hagler? And this is without even mentioning Ali.

As for power and aggression, there are a fair few candidate for honours here. Hagler again would have to come near top of this list.

There’s also Sonny Liston, George Foreman, Mike Tyson, and Larry Holmes. With regard to technical ability Roy Jones Jr and James Toney spring to mind, as does Jones when it comes to speed.

So there are a number of factors to be taken into account when trying to come up with a list of the five greatest fighters of all time. Mayweather is undeniably a great fighter, a man who dominated the sport for many years and who qualifies as an all-round fighter in his ability to fight, box, counterpunch, fight on the inside and make those all important adjustments when he had to in the heat of battle.

He is not the greatest fighter of all time though. In fact for me he would struggle to be included in the top five. Top ten, yes; top five, no.

When it comes to the fighters who have overcome adversity, taken the sport to a new level, come to symbolise something greater than boxing, enjoyed huge popularity, fought with style, courage, and poetry, not to mention inspired millions around the world, my list of the greatest five fighters of all time comes out as: 1. Muhammad Ali, 2. Muhammad Ali, 3. Muhammad Ali, 4. Muhammad Ali, 5. Muhammad Ali.
Paraphrasing Larry Holmes when comparing himself to Rocky Marciano, Floyd Mayweather Jr in truth isn’t fit to carry’s Ali’s jockstrap. A big house, fleet of expensive cars, bling, even a 49-fight undefeated record does not compare to what Ali achieved either in or out of the ring.