THE WELTER YEARS
Those who chastise Mayweather for failing to fight the top welterweights – Shane Mosley, Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, Paul Williams and Joshua Clottey- act as if each of them has always been a relevant, marketable challenge. At the outset of 2006, after his career-best stoppage of Cory Spinks, Zab Judah held the legitimate welterweight championship, at a time when a Golden Age of the division had not yet dawned. As a precursor to a Mayweather-Judah showdown, the Brooklyn southpaw planned a hometown tuneup against a little-known Argentine but was rudely upset by Carlos Baldomir. The Mayweather-Judah show still went on in April, and Mayweather soundly defeated his nemesis. Many in the boxing media decried this bout, challenging Mayweather to face the real champ Baldomir, who by that summer scored another surprise by stopping Gatti. Mayweather complied and dominated Baldomir to become the welterweight champ.
THE SHELTERED YEARS
Like Judah and Baldomir, the Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton mega-fights in 2007 can be defended. They brought Mayweather by far the biggest paydays of his career, along with big names on his resume and star power. Contrary to revisionist historians and Tom Kaczmarek’s curious scorecard, he clearly outpointed De La Hoya, as Chuck Giampa’s 116-112 scorecard in his favor most accurately reflected the fight’s story. During this same time, the other welterweights undercut each other’s hopes of building demand for a Mayweather challenge: Clottey lost to Margarito in December 2006, who lost to Williams in July 2007, who lost to Carlos Quintana in February 2008. Meanwhile, Cotto defeated Mosley in November 2007, and when Mayweather opted for a September 2008 rematch against De La Hoya, Cotto was trounced (albeit perhaps illegally) by Margarito in July 2008. Mayweather appeared to genuinely need a break from the sport when he pulled out of De La Hoya II and left tens of millions and another likely win on the table. With those events, then, why does Mayweather deserve criticism for not having fought any of these individuals? The answer is clear: It’s not that he hasn’t fought any of them in particular, it’s that he’s fought none of them.
SO WHAT’S FLOYD’S LEGACY TO BE?
A dichotomy in more ways than one, taken for granted by some and overrated by others, Mayweather stirs great debate and discord between even the most knowledgeable and rational of commentators. More problematically, his resume provides enough ammunition for his followers and naysayers to engage in verbal combat ad infinitum. So what’s the answer? How will his career be judged and his legacy defined? As muddled and confounding as the debate over his career can seem, the answer for Mayweather is equally plain: The three welterweights standing atop this Golden Age (assuming Pacquiao beats Clottey March 13) are Mayweather, Pacquiao and Mosley. Mayweather needs to fight Mosley now and Pacquiao sooner rather than later. Wins over both make Mayweather one of the greatest ever. Period. The avoidance of either confirms all of the questions raised about him by his critics of the years. The Mayweather debate is fast reaching its conclusion, and the subject himself will end it, one way or another. Your move, Floyd.