Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. the Great Welterweights

With pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather's recent 10 round knock out win over Ricky Hatton, the net has been abuzz with the usual reactions. Much of it is blatantly biased, with Mayweather's hardcore fans (and quite a few Hatton fans showing respect) trumpeting this fight as proof that he is 'the greatest of all time' and his detractors decrying Hatton as a bum or at best a blown-up junior welter with no business stepping up to 147.

Is Mayweather really the greatest of all time? As far as his personal achievements at this point in his career, no. He did fight an impressive collection of names at 130 pounds: Genaro Hernandez, Angel Manfredy, Diego Corrales, Carlos Hernandez, and Jesus Chavez were all good fighters. He did not, as several writers have said, 'clean out the division.' He never fought Joel Casamayor, Acelino Freitas, or Steve Forbes. I think he would have likely won those fights, but not having fought them does impact his legacy negatively. At lightweight he fought only four times: one controversial win over Jose Luis Castillo, one solid win, and wins over Victoriano Sosa and Philip N'Dou in defense of the lightweight championship he won by beating Castillo. Sosa was not even rated as one of the top ten contenders by The Ring magazine, while N'Dou (though a ranked contender and quite talented) was essentially untested at the top-tier level. After just three defenses, only two of them (Castillo II and Ndou) significant, Mayweather moved up to junior welterweight and beat Demarcus Corley, Henry Brusseles, and Arturo Gatti. He never fought 140 pound champion Kostya Tzyu or rising 140 pound stars Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto or talented divisional dark horse Junior Witter before moving up to fight at welterweight. At welter, he has fought just four times. First against former lightweight and junior welter belt-holder Sharmba Mitchell, then former division champion Zab Judah, then taking the title from champion Carlos Baldomir, and most recently a welterweight defense against Ricky Hatton after beating Oscar de la Hoya at junior middle.

Is Mayweather a great talent? Certainly. His undefeated record and his wins over quite a few champions, belt-holders, and future or former champions or belt-holders (Genaro Hernandez, Diego Corrales, Carlos Hernandez, Jesus Chavez, Jose Luis Castillo, Demarcus Corley, Arturo Gatti, Sharmba Mitchell, Zab Judah, Carlos Baldomir, Oscar de la Hoya, and Ricky Hatton in order) certainly do qualify him as a great fighter. As Hatton's career continues from this point, his sustained success at 140 could possibly expand Mayweather's legacy. Yet only three of those victims (de la Hoya, Corrales, and possibly Mitchell) are legitimate future Hall of Famers at this point, though Hatton conceivably could become a legitimate future Hall of Famer if his success at 140 continues.

Yet Mayweather is certainly a great fighter, perhaps one of the all-time greats at 130-135 pounds. Yet how would he fare against the best welterweights of all time, if he had to defend his world championship against them?

The following list is taken from The Ring magazine's rating of the top 20 welterweights of all time. I chose the top ten modern welterweights. Tommy Ryan and Joe Walcott (#8 and #9 on The Ring's list) didn't make the cut because neither of them fought in the modern era, they retired in 1907 and 1911, respectively. While Mickey Walker retired in 1935 and could thus be considered to have fought into the modern era, but he lost the welterweight title in 1926 and thereafter fought at middleweight, light-heavy, and heavyweight. Jack Britton and Ted 'Kid' Lewis also clearly fall outside the 'modern' category. Barney Ross, who was welterweight champion in 1934 and again from 1935-1938 therefore just makes the cut for #10.

10. Barney Ross 72-4-2 (22) with 2 no decisions - As Ross fought his last fight in 1938, it's difficult to say for certain how he would do against Mayweather. He twice beat Tony Canzoneri (but both decisions were controversial) and won two of three in a rubber with Jimmy McLarnin in which every decision was controversial. He outboxed the much bigger future middleweight champ, Ceferino Garcia, with a broken right hand. In his last fight, he lost the welterweight championship to the then-unstoppable Henry Armstrong.
Ross and Mayweather both have similar styles: Ross was a crafty boxer who relied on speed and skill. Mayweather is the bigger hitter at welterweight (and if they fought at 130-135 then Mayweather would have a huge power advantage) but Ross had a much higher workrate, tremendous stamina, and a great chin. He was never stopped and only dropped three times in 81 fights. At 5'7 and usually coming in (as a welter) around 140, he would cede a slight but significant size advantage to Mayweather.
With Ross's chin, Mayweather isn't stopping him at welter. Likewise, with Ross's lack of power he probably isn't stopping Mayweather. So this goes the full twelve rounds and, early on at least, it's pretty boring stuff. As Mayweather goes easy in the early rounds, Ross gradually begins to press him harder and harder and to throw more punches. When Mayweather works to box and counter, the fight becomes a chess match as Ross begins to try to counter Mayweather's counters. In order to win, Mayweather has to raise his work rate as well and the fight becomes more exciting in the later rounds as each fighter tries to establish his advantage to the judges satisfaction or steal a knockout. With the big intangibles being Ross's ability to win decisions in his close fights and Mayweather having never been challenged by someone so close to his own level of talent before, I see Ross winning a controversial decision.

9. Thomas Hearns 61-5-1 (48) - Let's face it. On a purely physical level, this could very well be the single toughest match-up for Mayweather on the list. 'The Motor City Cobra' (he didn't become 'the Hitman' until he moved up to junior middleweight) has four inches in height and six inches in reach to his credit against Mayweather. Add the fact that he began his long and fabled career as a welterweight, he enjoys the most significant size advantage over 'Pretty Boy Floyd' on this list. Then we move beyond the physical. When comparing Hall of Fame opposition, he fought Pipino Cuevas, Sugar Ray Leonard (twice), Wilfred Benitez, Roberto Duran, and Marvin Hagler. In this six fights he was 3-2-1 with 2 KOs and in the drawn second Leonard fight he floored Saccharine Ray twice and was robbed of the decision. The first Leonard fight and the Hagler fight are two of the great fights of all time. He also beat light-heavyweight and cruiserweight multiple alphabet titlist Virgil Hill when Hill was in his prime, light-heavyweight alphabet titlist Dennis Andries, and junior welterweight alphabet titlist and longtime tough journeryman Bruce Curry.
Everyone remembers Hearns' punch, especially the right. Hearns could knock very nearly anyone out when he landed flush. Roberto Duran was once said to have knocked out a horse with one punch. With one punch in 1984, Hearns knocked out Duran and his horse too. What made his power even more frightening was his jab (possibly the best ever in boxing) and his amazing hand-speed. Let's not forget his foot speed, he was fast enough to consistently catch Sugar Ray Leonard for three rounds (rounds 2-4) and force the boxer-dancer-counterpuncher to turn slugger! Then he out-boxed Leonard in long spots before finally being controversially stopped in round 14. He beat Wilfred Benitez, one of the most talented boxer-counterpunchers of his era by out-boxing him. Those who bring up his knockout losses to Leonard, Hagler, Iran Barkley, and Uriah Grant to question Hearns' oft-maligned chin should remember those are the only four knockout losses on his record in 67 fights. The Leonard stoppage was controversial and in the rematch it was Leonard who hit the floor twice. Hagler knocked out plenty of guys with very good chins. The Uriah Grant knockout came in 2000, when Hearns was 42 years old, and Grant fought every fight of his career at light-heavy, cruiser, or heavyweight. A guy who started at welterweight had one (controversial) knockout loss at welter, two knockout losses at middle, and one at cruiser in 67 fights. That's not evidence of the legendarily soft chin with which Hearns is credited.
This is a hard fight for Mayweather, pure and simple, and likely a bad one for him to take. On the outside, from a defensive posture, he has to deal with a lightning, trip-hammer jab and quick, accurate punches combined with constant forward momentum. Sure, Mayweather likes being on the defensive, but he's never had to fight an offensive fighter as good as Hearns who possessed Hearns' speed. If Mayweather tries to box on the inside, then he still has to worry about Hearns out-boxing him. Finally, Mayweather at welterweight doesn't have the punch Sugar Ray Leonard had at welterweight. If he tries to slug it out with Hearns, there is that frightening power to deal with.
I don't see Mayweather being able to stand the thought of losing. In the early rounds he'll fight with his usual defensive style and Hearns will start walking him down with that great jab and those fast punches.Mayweather will adapt and try to box on the inside, and Hearns' hand speed will allow him to hold his own and his foot speed and that great jab will let him work his way to the outside where he'll start out-boxing Mayweather steadily. Somewhere around round nine, Uncle Roger tells Floyd that he has to start punching if he wants to win. Sometime in round ten or round eleven, Hearns' counters a Mayweather right with a hard left-hook and then drops the big right hand on Mayweather. At which point it's probably over. Hearns by late round KO.

8. Emile Griffith 85-24-2 (23), 1 no-contest - Keep in mind we're talking about a prime Emile Griffith. This is not the guy of his second welterweight reign and thereafter who let guys off the hook every time he was in a position to end a fight because he was afraid of hurting them. This is the strong, aggressive, defensively tight body-puncher who KOed Benny Paret twice and killed him in the second fight. The more tentative version of Griffith, however unwilling to close the show, still went 3-1 with fellow Hall of Fame entrant Luis Rodriguez, beat fellow Hall of Fame entrant Dick Tiger for the middleweight championship, and went 1-2 with fellow Hall of Fame entrant Nino Benvenuti. Later, back at welterweight, he was dropped in the third and lost a lopsided decision to champion Jose Napoles. Very late in his career, against legendary middleweight champ Carlos Monzon, he was stopped in the 14th round and then lost a unanimous decision well past his prime. Total score against fellow Hall-of-Famers, 5-7
Griffith's trainer, Gil Clancy, said 'Emile never did one thing great in the ring, but he did everything very well.' He was powerfully built, with huge shoulders and long arms. He had excellent strength on the inside and in the clinches and was a skillful in-fighter. He was an exceptional boxer at any range, with a tight and fundamentally sound defense. He possessed fast hands and good timing. He could be a very busy combination puncher when necessary and he possessed a crippling body attack. He didn't have big one-shot power, but was a very effective combination puncher. Before Paret's death, he was a vicious closer when he had his man hurt. 11 of his 22 knockouts came in his first 32 fights. In his next 90 fights he would only score 11 more. That's a significant difference.His chin was sound, n 112 total fights, he was stopped twice, both times by middleweights: Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter and Carlos Monzon.
Unfortunately for Griffith, doing 'everything very well' isn't quite enough against Mayweather. Pretty Boy Floyd does everything superbly. He has the advantages in foot speed and reflexes and his timing and defense are at least as good as Emile's. Power-wise they are relatively even, though Griffith's higher work rate might give him an edge early on.
Griffith's best shot is to start fast, coming in behind the jab, throwing a lot of punches, and hammer Floyd to the body. He's bigger than Mayweather, and an inside fight allows him to use that strength and his in-fighting skill to muscle the smaller man around and force the fight early. Mayweather is an amazing boxer, however, and a superb counter-puncher. This turns into a hell of a fight in the middle rounds as Floyd begins to throw more punches and land them cleanly. He starts to win exchanges and begins to hurt Emile often enough to make a difference. This gives him more chances to box and turn the fight into a chess match. Griffith's reach advantage and good skills allow him to keep it a good fight, but Floyd is too fast and too skilled. There's more action in the championship rounds as Emile tries to smother Mayweather again, but Floyd's counter-punching and speed win him a close majority decision.

7. Jose Napoles 79-7 (55) - This is a tough one to figure, for a variety of reasons. The superb Napoles was a fighter very much like Floyd when Floyd was at 130, a brilliantly skilled boxer with excellent timing and accuracy and devastating power with both fists. In his first title fight, he stopped hard-punching southpaw Curtis Cokes in the 13th to win. And he was completely dominating Cokes when he knocked him out. In the rematch, he dominated Cokes again and stopped him in ten. In his second defense, he dropped Emile Griffith in the third and won a lopsided unanimous decision. He only fought once more against another Hall of Famer, however, quitting on his stool after six rounds in the ring with the far bigger Carlos Monzon. This brings his total record against Hall of Famers to 3-1. The rest of his opponents during his dominance of the division (16 successful defenses in two reigns) were not in his class, but one of them (so-so Billy Backus) stopped him on cuts. Napoles dominated the rematch, however, pounding Backus into defeat in 8. At the age of 35 he was stopped by John H. Stracey, again on cuts, in the sixth round.
As a complete package, Napoles is close to Floyd with an edge in power... but while likely as skilled as Floyd he drops the edge in speed to Mayweather. Though his chin was solid (all his stoppage losses came on his feet or his stool, none by a count), he had a tendency to cut and lost three times on cuts to less talented fighters (Backus, Stracey, and L.C .Morgan) and one of those losses (Backus) was in the middle of his prime. A natural junior welter, Jose would look small next to pumped-up 147 pound Mayweather. This might give him some of the same problems Hatton faced, though Jose's superior skills would give him a better chance of handling them.
With Napoles being good enough to take the fight to Floyd early and likely even force Mayweather to fight a little harder, a little earlier than he usually likes, this fight starts out exciting. Floyd has the edge in most of the exchanges because of his reach advantage and his speed, and Napoles turns puncher to try to blitz Mayweather with his power. This turns the fight briefly in his advantage but Mayweather finds his range and outboxes him. Worse, he cuts him up, and as a result he stops Napoles somewhere in the middle rounds.

6. Carmen Basilio 56-16-7 (25) - Basilio had quite the career. He won the welterweight title by knocking Tony DeMarco out in 12 in an amazing fight, and then topped that by knocking DeMarco out in 12 again to keep the title. A three fight series with Johnny Saxton followed, losing a dubious decision and then stopping Saxton twice. The second DeMarco fight and the second Saxton fight were back to back Fights of the Year in 1955 and 1956. He gave up his welterweight title after one more defense, his record at that point 29-2 (20), to fight Sugar Ray Robinson twice for the middleweight title. He won a controversial decision in a vicious fight, most spectators thinking that Robinson had won. Then, in the rematch, he lost an equally controversial decision in an even more vicious fight; a significant number of the spectators thought Basilio had won. He was knocked out, twice, in middleweight alphabet title fights by Gene Fullmer. As a welterweight, prior to winning the title from DeMarco, his record against Hall of Famers was equally spotty. He lost a split decision in a title challenge against Kid Gavilan and went 1-1-1 against outstanding contender Billy Graham. All around, his record against Hall of Famers was 2-5-1. Every single one of those losses, however, was competitive and in his last title fight (challenging Gene Fullmer for the NBA title) he was stopped in mid-swing and was shouting at the referee... even cocked his arm to punch the referee! He had to be escorted back to his corner by the police.
Basilio was a brawler, plain and simple. Tough, strong, and very hard-hitting as a welterweight he was fond of rough fights and always gave his all. He was no slouch defensively, able to roll with punches and slip jabs as he moved in to attack the body and pound his opponent relentlessly for the duration of his fights. He had a great chin, seemingly unlimited stamina, and a huge heart. On the downside, he was somewhat undersized and tended to cut. He could be outboxed and he absorbed too many punches. His record against fellow top welterweights was spotty. He had trouble with DeMarco in both his knockout wins, went 2-1 with Johnny Saxton, and at the truly elite level he was 1-2-1 total against fellow Hall of Famers Gavilan and Graham and 0-1-1 against top contender Chuck Davey.
It's easy to see this fight going either way, depending on whose day is better. After all, Basilio split a pair with Sugar Ray Robinson at middleweight. Assuming both men are having their very best day, however, Mayweather's jab and movement are just too much for Basilio. Carmen never stops coming forward and he gives Mayweather a hell of a beating early on and for shorter stretches in the middle and late rounds. Ultimately, however, Mayweather reduces Basilio to a mass of cuts and bruises and wins a split decision.

5. Sugar Ray Leonard 36-3-1 (25) - In an era when Tommy Hearns, Wilfred Benitez, and Roberto Duran all fought at welterweight, Saccharine Ray was the best welterweight of his era. He stopped Benitez in the 15th, split a pair with Duran (but it should be noted that after a very competitive loss in the first fight, fighting Duran's kind of brawling inside war he totally humiliated Duran in the rematch), and finally slugged his way to a controversial stoppage win over Thomas Hearns at a time when Hearns was believed invincible to become undisputed welterweight champion of the world. Then he would retire after just one more fight. After one abortive comeback in which he looked rather bad, he came back again to win a controversial decision of Marvelous Marvin Hagler to become undisputed middleweight champion of the world. He won alphabet titles at super middle and light-heavy by knocking out Donny Lalonde. After that he hit the downside of his career, lucky to get a draw in his rematch with Hearns and slippig-and-pecking his way past Roberto Duran in a boring rubber match. Then he was trounced thoroughly by Terry Norris. His final record against all of famers was 6-2-1.
Leonard may have been the rare fighter with no weaknesses. He had graceful speed, excellent skill, beautiful technique, good power, and ring intelligence and generalship that was able to make the difference when he was in the ring with a physical marvel like Hearns or a powerhouse of will like Hagler. He could box, he could bang, he was a consistent fighter, and he had a pretty good chin. If he did have a weakness it was pride, which led him to fight a brutal brawl with Roberto Duran in their first go-round and take a frightful beating and to lose a unanimous decision. Yet he gave very nearly as good as he got and didn't disgrace himself in his loss.
I see this fight being dangerous for both Leonard and Mayweather. For much of the fight, this would be the kind of quickly paced chess match as Leonard-Benitez. Floyd doesn't have Benitez' china chin, however, and Leonard wouldn't knock him out in a chess match. They'd both be able to take each other's punches pretty well through the early and the middle rounds. As it came into the late rounds with a close score, the fight would heat up. Mayweather likes to come on in late rounds, and Leonard would respond in kind. The fight would probably go right down to the wire. It's a difficult call and the decision would be controversial no matter who won. I'd give it to Leonard for two reasons. First, he has a proven record of being able to punch down the stretch when necessary and, second, as a natural welterweight he would be stronger than Mayweather. It's a very close, controversial split decision.

4. Charlie Burley 84-12-2 (50), 1 no-contest - I'm not sure I agree with Burley being on the list. Yes, from 1936 to 1942 he came in at the welterweight limit in 38 fights. Yes, he beat Archie Moore twice and lost twice, very competitively, to Ezzard Charles as a middleweight. He fought Fritizie Zivic three times and won two of the fights. He won the 'Colored Welterweight Championship of the World' by beating the outstanding Cocoa Kid quite badly and dropping him three times. Fine, but there are still arguments against him being in this slot. The biggest problem is that the biggest argument advanced for Burley's greatness is who he didn't fight. He didn't fight Sugar Ray Robinson at welterweight or middleweight despite their parallel early careers. He didn't get a shot against Henry Armstrong for the welterweight title, Fritzie Sivic got it and won. Yes, Burley beat Zivic twice in non-title fights, but he didn't got a shot. Nor did he fight Marty Servo or Tommy Bell for the title. Nor did he get a middleweight shot. The argument, proving his greatness, is that the best fighters were ducking him because he was too good and he was black. This is the argument used to advance Archie Moore's long wait for a title shot as well. The problem with this argument is that he lost fights, and some of those losses were to guys not considered 'top drawer'. Holman Williams, considered a very good fighter but not quite elite, was evenly matched with Burley: they went 3-3-1. Burley's claim to greatness rests on Archie Moore's testimony that Burley was the best fighter he ever faced in the ring, and on Hall of Fame trainer Eddie Futch's testimony that Burley was the best fighter he'd ever seen. Burley was tremendously skilled, but his physical talents didn't match his polished skills (somewhat like Bernard Hopkins today, though Burley was heavier handed) and he suffered from management issues his entire career. A fighter's greatness doesn't rest on what he could have accomplished if given the chance. It rests on his actual accomplishments.
That said, Burley was a superb fighter. He was defensively very skilled, extremely well schooled in the fundamentals, a tricky ring general, heavy-handed, and a versatile fighter who could box or brawl. He had perfect timing and a great chin. Many people who saw him in action agreed with Moore and Futch.
Burley's speed doesn't match Mayweather's, and he has a hard time getting away from Floyd's jab. He slips it and goes to the body frequently, but just as frequently he gets caught with the jab and beaten to the punch on the inside. Floyd is every bit as technically sound, and physically much more talented, which makes it a long night for Charlie. He turned it into a brawl in the middle rounds, trying to make Mayweather fight his fight. Mayweather fights well in spots, but keeps boxing and moving. The exchanges become prolonged in the championship rounds, and Mayweather shows signs of frustration that Burley is still there and still giving nearly as good as he gets. Mayweather goes on the attack in the 12th and a hard fought round rocks back and forth. Burley likely steals the last round with tricky movement and a last minute left hook, but it's not enough. Burley gives Floyd all he can handle for the full 12, but Mayweather wins a unanimous decision and isn't close. At least three points.

3. Kid Gavilan 107-30-6 (28) - 'The Cuban Hawk' had to wait to be welterweight champion until Sugar Ray Robinson had moved up to take the middleweight title. Once he became welterweight champion, however, he would dominate his division for 3 1/2 years while that division was loaded with some of the hottest talent of its history. In that sense, his situation is similar to that of Mayweather: Gavilan was world welterweight champion of a red hot welterweight division. There some big differences as well. First and foremost, Gavilan fought all the hot welterweight challengers of his reign and won more often than not. Before becoming champion, he beat lightweight champion Ike Williams twice in welterweight fights. In 1948, in a non-title fight with welterweight champion Sugar Ray Robinson, he fought so well in losing a ten round split decision that the crowd exploded in boos. Eight months later he fought Robinson again, for the title, losing a great fight. When Robinson moved up to middleweight for good in 1951, Gavilan fought Johnny Bratton for the vacant title and won a lopsided decision. He defended twice against great contender Billy Graham, winning a controversial split decision and a lopsided unanimous decision. He stopped unbeaten number one contender Chuck Davey (39-0 at the time) in ten rounds. Against a peak Carmen Basilio, Gavilan got up off the canvas in the second round to survive and stage a monumental rally in the second half of the fight to win a split decision free of any controversy. With a broken hand, he still held middleweight champion Carl 'Bobo' Olson to a majority decision in 1954 in his attempt to step up. In his next fight he easily outboxed Johnny Saxton over 15 rounds to be robbed of the title by one of history's famous bad decisions.
Gavilan's defensive skills and reflexes rivalled Mayweather's, and he had a great chin. He tasted the canvas only twice in 143 fights over a long career. He was aggressive, using his hand speed and reflexes to find a spot in the pocket and fire machine gun combinations while slipping and rolling away from his opponent's counters. He lacked power, but but made up for it with volume. While he didn't score a lot of knockouts, he hit hard enough to keep his opponent off him and give himself room to work. Fans loved his style and he was always aggressive, which could give him an advantage over the more cautious and negative Mayweather, as his could his tendency to start fast versus Mayweather's tendency to start slow.
I think the combination of Gavilan's physical talents (roughly on par with Mayweather's) and an aggressive style plus the boxing skill not to be caught by a lot of counters and an excellent chin could be difficult for Mayweather to overcome. That said, I think Mayweather (even the welterweight version) has more pop than Gavilan. In fights with fellow great boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, the power edge in Robinson's favor made the difference even though the fight went the distance. Mayweather is no Robinson in terms of punching power, but the comparison could still hold. At the same time, if Mayweather gives up too many early rounds than a late rally might not win the fight for him. Ultimately, though, it comes down to styles and Mayweather is a guy who fights to win while Gavilan was a performer who fought to please the crowd. Gavilan takes more chances than he should, Mayweather punishes him for it, and ultimately Mayweather wins a close and competitive fight by split decision.

2. Henry Armstrong 151-21-9 (101) - We're getting toward the top and here we have the prototype for what fighters like Carmen Basilio and Ricky Hatton want to be. 'Homicide Hank' was a small welterweight who'd be a junior welterweight today, true. He is also the only man in boxing history to hold three world titles (featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight) at the same time. On top of that, he holds the welterweight record for successful consecutive defenses: eighteen. He set that record in an amazing reign that lasted a mere two years. He was reigning featherweight champion of the world and only three pounds over the lightweight limit when he faced reigning champion Barney Ross for the welterweight title. Ross outweighed Armstrong by nine pounds. Yet Armstrong beat Ross around the ring to win round after round by increasingly wide margins. In the end, though Ross stayed on his feet and went the distance, Armstrong won the fight by a wide margin and Ross took a frightening beating that prompted his retirement at the age of only 28. The fight was a shutout or close to it, and Henry Armstrong was the champion of the world. Immediately after beating Ross, he then fought lightweight champion Lou Ambers and pummeled 'Lightning Lou' for 15 brutal rounds even as Ambers boxed and punched and did everything to try to keep Armstrong off him. Both men were badly cut by the battle (Armstrong suffered a horrific cut to his tongue that required fifteen stitches and several times, Ambers had to beg the referee not to stop the fight because of his own cuts) and The Ring magazine has called the fight the greatest lightweight fight since they started publishing. In the end, Armstrong appeared to have a strong lead... but he was penalized four points for low blows. Despite the penalties, he won a split decision. Then he stepped back up to defend his welterweight title against future middleweight champion Ceferino Garcia and pounded the bigger man for fifteen to win unanimously. He would defends the welterweight title six more times and the lightweight title once (in a match where it and his welterweight title were /both/ on the line), scoring four knockouts on the way, and give up the featherweight title before facing Ambers in a lightweight rematch. Another brutal fight ended with Armstrong having fought the better fight, but this time Armstrong lost five points for low blows and lost the split decision. In his next fourteen fights he scored a knockout in a non-title bout, drew with Garcia in a rematch for the middleweight championship of the world (and most experts thought he won), and defended his own championship twelve times with eleven of those wins coming by knockout. Though he lost his title to Fritizie Zivic in his 19th defense, and lost the rematch by knockout, he would pound Zivic for ten rounds and win easily in their rubber match after Zivic lost the title.
Pros and cons? The pros are that Armstrong had a workrate no one had ever seen before and few have matched since, combined with amazing stamina to keep those punches flying for fifteen rounds while fighting nearly once a month. His hands were amazingly fast, allowing him to deal out tremendous punishment very quickly, and his reflexes and boxing skills allowed him to slip his opponent's counters with underrated ease. During his prime he had an amazing chin. Over the first 130 fights of his career he had precisely two knockout losses: one in his very first pro fight and one 129 fights later in the rematch with Zivic. While his concussive power at featherweight and lightweight was only above average at welterweight (much like Mayweather) , he still scored 14 knockouts in 18 successful welterweight defenses with the rapid accumulation of quick and brutal punches. During his prime his only real weaknesses were his lack of size (which is hard to count as a real weakness, when guys much bigger than him were biting the dust in the face of his fists) and his tendency to drift low during his vicious body attacks.
I don't think a fight between Mayweather and Armstrong is difficult to call at all. Armstrong hit harder than Emile Griffith and had enough killer instinct for three fighters. He starts punching at the bell and doesn't stop until the last bell rings again. In view of his defensive talents and good chin, Mayweather lasts the distance and makes many rounds competitive and the fight a barn-burner. Armstrong's stamina, pressure, punch output, and hard hitting mean that Mayweather doesn't enjoy any of those rounds, even when winning them. Battered and bleeding beyond any previous experience in his career, Mayweather loses a unanimous decision and possibly tastes the canvas a time or two. He seriously considers retirement after the fight.

1. Sugar Ray Robinson 175-19-6 (109) with 2 no-contests - The real Sugar Ray is the man that most experts call the single best fighter, pound for pound, of all time. Not at all coincidentally, he is the best welterweight of all time. Mayweather's chance to conclusively prove his own claim of being the best fighter ever is this fight. Unfortunately, it's a tough sell. When Robinson finally got his shot with his world welterweight championship fight against Tommy Bell (his 76th pro fight), he was 71-1-1 with two no-contests. His one loss came against middleweight Jake LaMotta, whom he beat once before and twice after the loss before stopping LaMotta on cuts for the middleweight championship in their final fight. His one draw was against middleweight Jose Basora, whom he would ice in a round in a rematch years after winning the welterweight title against Bell. He beat a considerable list of Hall of Famers: Sammy Angott (three times, flooring him once in their first fight), Fritzie Zivic (twice, including a knockout win), Jake LaMotta (4-1 total, in their rivalry, with 1 KO), Henry Armstrong, Kid Gavilan (twice), Carl 'Bobo' Olson (4 times, two KOs), Rocky Graziano (by knockout), Gene Fullmer (by knockout), and Carmen Basilio. In this collection of fights his record was 19-4-1 (6). I will say this again. In 24 fights with fellow Hall of Famers, Robinson's record was 19-4-1 (6). He also beat champions Marty Servo (welterweight, twice in non-title fights before Servo became champion), Denny Moyer (junior middleweight, splitting a pair with Moyer at the end of his own career and the beginning of Moyer's), and Randolph Turpin (middleweight, losing an upset decision and then revenging the loss by knockout). So his total record against fellow champions, Hall of Famers or otherwise, was 23-10-1 (7) (Robinson lost a fight with Joey Maxim for the light heavyweight title before his first retirement, lost his middleweight championship to Paul Pender and lost the rematch, and lost to future middleweight champion Joey Ghiardello late in his career). With the exception of the lone loss to LaMotta in his 41st fight, all of the losses came after Sugar Ray turned 30. After the loss to LaMotta, only two (his upset loss to Turpin and his failed challenge against Maxim) came before his first retirement. The remaining seven losses came after he returned from retirement to regain the middleweight championship. This is a quality of opposition and of achievement against same that no one else on this list can match.
As a physical talent, Robinson was the equal or superior of such gaudy names as Tommy Hearns, Ray Leonard, or Mayweather himself. He was a fundamentally sound boxer-puncher with the sharpest possible reflexes and phenomenal speed (hands and feet), split-second timing, jackhammer power in both fists and the ability to end any fight from any angle at any time, an extremely good chin, and an immense fighting heart and killer instinct. His defense was not as seemingly perfect as Floyd's, but his offense was far superior. One of his main weaknesses, however, would seem to play into Floyd's hands: Robinson did not much like quality boxers with top-notch jabs and that is Floyd to a tee. On the other hand, he did not lose to a boxer with a top notch jab until he lost his middleweight championship to Paul Pender in 1960 on the downside of his career. I don't think that anyone believes Pender defeats a prime Robinson, or that Joey Ghiardello, Denny Moyer, or Joey Archer beat a prime Robinson either.
This is a tremendous fight that becomes a classic offense versus defense battle. Floyd is unable to take the early rounds off, as he prefers, and is forced to fight much more than usual. On the flip-side, Floyd's defensive brilliance forces Robinson to take more chances than usual and stretch himself for every step of the fight. This very possibly becomes the first true ring war of Mayweather's career. Mayweather's chin and heart are tested as they have never been tested before, and in return he rises to the challenge and gives Robinson everything he has to offer. Unfortunately for Floyd, it just isn't enough. Robinson's size (Robinson is a natural welterweight who fought successfully against middleweights) and superior power prove too much down the stretch and Floyd takes a beating in late rounds. Robinson wins a split decision.

Naturally, all of this is subjective. One of these estimates, Emile Griffith vs. Floyd Mayweather, depends on Mayweather being good enough to overcome Griffith's solid skills and huge strength advantage. Another, Tommy Hearns vs. Mayweather, depends on Hearns being able to protect his chin. Yet, overall, I believe these to be the best possible estimates. Thank you for your patience in reading all of this.