By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
To say that Floyd Mayweather is confident is an understatement.
If the 33-year-old, unbeaten, five-time champion doens't truly believe he's better than Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali, he's at least saying that he does.
"Why not? I take my hat off to them. I got respect for Sugar Ray Robinson. I've got respect for Muhammad Ali. But I'm a man just like they're men, I put on my pants just like they put on their pants. What makes them any better than I am? Because they fought a thousand fights?" asked Mayweather, who is 40-0, with 25 knockouts, during Thursday's conference call with reporters.
"In my era, it's totally different [from those of Robinson and Ali]. You know? It's pay-per-view now, so things change. It's out with the old and in with the new," said Mayweather. "Like I said, Muhammad Ali is one hell of a fighter. But Floyd Mayweather is the best. Sugar Ray Robinson is one hell of a fighter, but Floyd Mayweather is the best."
Mayweather will get a chance to prove his assertions in what could be the biggest test of his career on May 1, when he takes on 38-year-old WBA welterweight (147 pounds) champion, Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs), at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
But even in victory, Mayweather does not believe that his critics will give him credit. He doesn't feel as if they ever do.
"I've been dominating since the 90's. That's what we talk about when you talk about what I've been doing. Like I said before, when guys like this [Manny Pacquiao or Shane Mosley] fight Oscar De la Hoya, they say, 'Oh, it's unbelievable.' But when I fight De la Hoya, they said, 'De la Hoya's washed up,'" said Mayweather.
"See? It's things like this that I don't like," said Mayweather. "So when I go out and beat Mosley, they're going to go say he's over the hill. It's always an excuse. But they don't talk about how I won a title in one year. I had the title all throughout my career, retired, came back, and beat the number two dude, pound-for-pound."
Mayweather is facing the largest opponent he ever has during the course of what is surely a Hall of Fame career in Mosley, who is coming off of January's ninth-round knockout of Antonio Margarito, stopping the hard-punching Mexican fighter for the first time in his career and dethroning him as WBA titlist.
A former IBF lightweight champion, Mosley has fought at welterweight or higher exclusively since relinquishing his lightweight belt in 1999, including seven bouts at junior middleweight (154 pounds), and one other at 148 pounds -- an April, 2005 decision over David Estrada.
At junior middleweight, Mosley has twice stopped former world champion, Fernando Vargas, knocked out former world titlist, Ricardo Mayorga, and earned his second win over former world champ, de la Hoya -- the latter for the WBC and WBA crowns in September of 2003.
Mosley also twice lost to Winky Wright at 154 pounds.
Meanwhile, Mayweather has fought at welterweight five times, and, once as a junior middleweight, weighing 150 pounds against the 154-pound de la Hoya during his May, 2007 split-decision victory.
Mayweather's welterweight victories were knockouts of Sharmba Mitchell and Ricky Hatton, and decisions over Zab Judah, Carlos Baldomir, and, Juan Manuel Marquez, with Marquez, and, Hatton, respectively, rising from lightweight (135 pounds), and, junior welterweight (140 pounds) to face him.
Mayweather, however, does not see Mosley's size or his power as any sort of advantage.
"Mosley's a fighter that's always worried about landing that one punch. He worries about being strong, and I worry about being smart. So we approach the fight in two, totally different ways," said Mayweather.
"I think Shane may be loading up with wide shots, and kind of not using a forward jab, and I use a forward jab," said Mayweather. "When I shoot my shots, I look at my opponents and I look where I'm punching at. When Shane punches a lot, he closes his eyes when you go back and you look at some of his fights."
Mayweather-Mosley materialized following the disintegration of talks between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao for a potential mega fight -- this as a result of the fighters' failure to agree on the role of drug testing for their bout.
Mayweather and Mosley, who has admitted past steroid use, are each being randomly tested by the United States Anti-Doping Agency.
Pacquiao, meanwhile, elected not to be randomly tested, a subject that remains a sore one with Mayweather.
"All I'm saying, if you're a clean athlete, take your test. That's all I'm saying. That's all I've got to say. If you're a clean athlete, take the test," said Mayweather. "Show the world, you know what, I'm a natural. Take the test, that's all I say. Let them come get you at any time and take the test."
Asked whether Mosley or Pacquiao should be considered among those on a list that would include himself, Robinson and Ali, Mayweather responded to the negative, questioning their credentials.
"I can't see Mosley talk about putting himself as a future Hall of Famer. This was a guy who we don't know how long he was taking enhancement drugs. So this is something that we don't know. Okay, Manny Pacquiao struggled twice -- which we really know he got beat -- but he struggled twice with Marquez, which we know he really lost, right?" said Mayweather.
"And we know he's been knocked out twice. And he's been out-boxed by Erik Morales, but they still give him boxer of the Decade. He beat a Ricky Hatton that got stretched by me," said Mayweather. "I'm trying to find out what it really is. That's not for me to choose. That's not for me to put him in the Hall of Fame."
And what bout himself?
"I don't know, I can't say how this fight matches up, but I think I'm a 15-round fighter. I think I'll show the world that I'm always in tiptop shape, and I'm in the best condition," said Mayweather.
"You know, the guys [HBO's camera crew] from 24/7, they say that they went to every other fighter's camp, and they went to some other guys' camps, some mixed martial arts guys, and they said they always ask them, "Well who works the hardest?' And they say 'Well, hands-down, Floyd Mayweather,'" said Mayweather.
"Nobody pushes to the limit like I do, so I was happy when I heard that," said Mayweather. "Like I said before, the only thing I want to do is just be the best. So I'm going to continue just to work hard, and I'm pretty sure Shane's in good condition. So we're going to put on one hell of a show on May 1."
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
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