I need some historical reference from guys who know more about boxing history than I do. Has there ever been a #1 pound for pound champion more universally hated than Floyd? It seems like Floyd has very few die hard fans because of his antics and personality. I'm wondering if any of the other pound for pound #1s had to deal with this. I mean, most people, including myself, don't really want him to return (unless we knew he'd get beaten). I know Ali was unpopular at one time b/c of his stance on the draft, but I can't think of any other examples (I got into boxing in the 80s). Tyson was loved by most, Leonard was too. Even though Pernell didn't have much knockout power, he was fun to watch and loved for it. So are there any #1 PFP guys as hated as Floyd, or will he go down in history as the a$$hole of boxing?

I think you'd first have to do a poll just to see exactly how many people really do hate him.

I'm sure there may be quite a few that hate him, but there's quite a few that like him as well.

Likewise, there were quite a few that liked Roy Jones, but also a bunch that hated him.

It's just hard to make the comparison without knowing how "hated" he really is.

On a side note, perhaps a bit of trivia, but was Mike Tyson ever ranked #1 P4P by Ring Magazine?

Floyd doesn't have the charisma to be "most hated".

On Tyson, I'm not sure he was ever #1 Ring P4P...in fact, I don't think he was.

I doubt Mike was since The Ring is all knowing and being that way they know that PFP was not created to include heavyweights.

I think I remember seeing him as high as 2 or 3...and I don't know why I remember that.

Exactly. All that shit he talks on camera is an act. It's to sell tickets. He's just really horrible at it.

I myself actually like Floyd a lot. First of all, I just respect the man's skills. I'm not here to argue about who he ducked, or his "boring" fights (which I actually find quite enjoyable), but just his raw skills. It's boxing at it's finest really.

Second, some of the people from my gym have actually met the Mayweather family. I remember watching on one the 24/7 episodes (I can't remember against who), but his mother made a quick comment about how nobody ever talks about the community work Floyd does. I also heard Roger and Floyd Sr. are just real, down to earth folks. People persons.

I don't know if anyone remembers this, but in his fight against the Corrales, Lampley made this comment about how his cutman would had made more money working Corrales's corner rather than Floyd's for that fight, so Floyd told him to do what was best for him (which he did by working Corrales's corner), and just come back afterwards. I believe he still has the same cutman. It really says something about someone's character to do that for another person.

I think Tyson was #1..after the Spinks win

I'd say Money May is in the Top 10 All Time as far as being "hated"....you have to remember....there was some serious hate back in the day....pure, racial Hate...and the people didn't hide it as much as they do now....

I don't know about most hated, but I would take a guess he is probably the least recognized #1 P4P fighter ever. And now when he was finally getting his name out there and more people were getting to know him, he retires. There was and I guess still is so much money for him to make.

I can say that there was no racial hate from me to PBF although I do hate some of the modern dark fighters like Judah but that is more because he is a absolute idiot. I hated Forehead Raheem as well but that was because of his forehead size & he beat my boy.

you could argue that ali was a very hated fighter back in the day... specially when he first made his conversion to islam... people wanted to see him lose, people went to his fights to see him lose... it was pretty much split racially but he was a hated man... same thing can be said for jack johnson... damn near all of white america hated him back in the day... now thats hate...

I like Mayweather in the ring but hate him outside it..

Especially when he started dating white women lol.

Like said before most of these guys are liked just as much as they are hated. Some of it just goes under the radar mainly by the media. The media can have a huge impact on the way that people are viewed by the general public.

There is only one fighter I can honestly say I hate and that is Antonio Tarver. As far as other boxers, I may not be a fan but I dont hate them.

Why Tarver??Cause he KO'd Roy??I always was a fan of both of them..

Not just cause he KO'd Roy, he bases his whole career off of one fight.
Plus he talks a lot of shit and cant back any of it up in the ring against top tier opponents. Floyd talks a lot of shit but damnit he can fight, Tarver sucks ass.

Lets start a Tarver Hate Wagon

I remember a lot more hatred towards Roy Jones than there is towards Floyd.
I know I hated Roy a lot more. For the love of God, he seriously fought only trashmen for the bulk of his career.
Him getting knocked out was his just desserts as far as I'm concerned.

Floyd at least has fought some top guys within memory. While he's certaily hateable (I'm no fan, for sure), he's a smart guy who knows he can't please everyone so he's going to do what's best for him. If that brings him across the best, then he'll fight them.

Its funny though cause some of the trash people say Roy fought gave other fighters they claim Roy should have fought hell. For example Richard Hall and Gonzalez gave Dariusz fits and hell even beat him once. But hey, thats a whole nother thread.

I would seriously like you to back up this statement. I understand people love to rip on this man, but this is just a ridiculous statement. Please go look at his resume. Sure he had a few gimmees(Frazier,Kelly), but I do not think it is as bad as people like to believe. He has a lot of quality wins.

roys last few years have caused people to forget just how untouchable he was in his prime... he was not gonna get beat by any fighters fighting at that time... it would have taken an all time great to beat him at his best...

I have no problems with Mayweather! Overall, He has been "GOOD" for the sport.

Well there's no racism there. You understandably hate fighters that just happen to be black. LOL.

lmao!!!... that was a good one i was thinking the same thing...lol

I agree with ya. He was untouchable in his prime, no one came close to giving him a real test.

I wonder if some of the hate vented towards Floyd these past few years has been in any way part residual hate from the Roy Jones era.

Because in Roy you had an absolutely phenomenal talent who spent the bulk of his career not particularly interested in proving his greatness against the best possible competition available to him. So now he falls off a cliff and everyone's thrilled, but then here's Floyd taking his spot as clearly the sport's very best, but again, a guy more interested in lining his own pockets than in facing his toughest challenges.

Anyone else think there could be some 'Not this shit again' frustration coming out?

Interesting theory. In some ways they share a similar ego, although I still think Jones' was bigger. Good theory though.

It is a case of styles make fights actually.






I also hate fighters like Calzaghe as well. It is not all one way trust me. I also hate Chavez Jnr. i spread the hate amongst all the different ethnic groups.

I can't hide this anymore...I hate all Australian fighters. Except for Glen kelly and Mundine.

I hate Nigerians named Samuel!

I know man. I was being serious. LOL.

Kunga is alright mate. My bro was trying to convince me to go to Mundine vs Shannan Taylor (yes the one who got stopped against Mosley 9 years ago). That would be a real battle of the hate for me as I hate both fighters.

Didn't Mundine already beat that guy

The only fighter I hate right now is Joe Calzaghe...

I hate Taylor as well, he is a cheap dirty fighter, who happens to be a dirty druggie as well. I still remember him headbutting a guy blatantly I think in the Peden-Campbell II undercard and nothing happened. I hate that dude bad.

Dirty dirty fighter.

I remember when he fought Mosley & we were all watching it (about 10 of us) & my mate Slim (who knew nothing about boxing at all) said "I can't believe you guys like this fight. The black guy is going to kill him I read the paper today & it said he has never lost. Taylor is dead".

No he's not. Shane Mosley has much less of mainstream profile than Floyd Mayweather. Michael Nunn (who I believe was pound 4 pound in 87 and 88) would be another one although he did some tv spots (can't remember the tv show off the top) but only a boxing fan would recognize him or a "correction officer".

Floyd came in unfortunately at the wrong time in boxing but I give him a lot of credit for getting his name out there. He did something so simple I'm amazed there hasn't been an article about. All he did was take a page out of professional wrestling script as far as his persona. I remember when Floyd was portrayed as the "nice guy" early in his career and he got very little, if ANY ink outside of boxing trades.

Starts to open his mouth and look what happened.

I think a lot of Floyd's hatred frankly ties into his race, the face that he's associated with the "hip hop generation" where people in their 40's and older absolutely still despise ANYTHING tied with that and of course the fact he has a big mouth.. It's my personal belief a close mouth DOES NOT get fed so he's done what benefitted his career the most.

You'll NEVER please everyone so why try??

I did say PROBABLY. I did not really think of Mosley as a P4P #1 ever, me personally I would have never put him above Jones at the time when Mosely was considered in the top 3. Mosely was never far and above considered the best by the MAJORITY of the public. Correct me if I am wrong. I will agree with you on Nunn, I definately forgot about him, he was awesome back then, undefeated and considered the best at the time of his reign, until he met JAMES "LIGHTS OUT TOOOOOONEY". So I agree with ya about Nunn being less recognized than Mayweather. Good call on that one.

That's a very good analysis. It's surprising how many people believe Floyd is actually how he appears on camera. His change from "good guy" to "bad guy" is exactly what they do in WWF, or WWE. I mean how many times has Triple H changes sides?

That's because there is none.

I don't buy this race BS. He was not liked because of his projected public personna & the fact that he always took the path of least resistance.

mustard you are a purist is why you like floyd... the definition of boxing is to hit and not get hit.. most like the rock em sock em robot fights and yes that is fun but that is not boxing.. boxing is the fighting art of hitting without getting hit.. mayweather does that very well.... thats why he is truley the best today..

Yup

See it's comments like this that are hilarious. Oh really? I honestly don't know why I waste my time at times commenting to you because you rarely to NEVER substantiate the BULLSHIT you express. But I admit I enjoy putting you in your place often times. (Hey I'm still waiting for someone on Kostya's resume that remotely resembled Floyd's style since Kostya had NO problems with"boxers" even though Floyd could take on many other stances. Oh yeah, your logic again was he beat Roger so he'd beat Floyd,lol. As I told you before, they fought nothing alike to even mention that shows you don't know what you're talking about..)

In comparison to WHO(who's supposedly NOT chosen the so called least path to resistance)??

Lets see Floyd fought Genero Hernandez two years into is career when Genaro was the KING of the Featherweights when Floyd could have easily set up a match with Roberto Garcia who was the IBF holder.

He cleaned out that division when he fought Corrales.

Do we need to move up to 135, (I know i've typed this before but oh well) he went straight for the top with Jose Luis Castillo and for those of you that actually think he lost the first fight, well I don't hear anything about how he fought through a bad hand that fight and I NEVER hear how he beat him CLEARLY the second time. So who's missing here?? Friggin Joel Casamayor, sighing. Yeah, Joel had a chance against Floyd but I'll give you all that one even though the Mayweather camp says they tried to make fights with Casamayor so we have a stale mate there.

Who was there at 140. Ricky Hatton beat Kostya and went afteer Maussa (which floyd could have) but he was chasing bigger fish. A higher weight class and the linear champ at the time.

Nevermind Floyd fought and stopped everyones favorite fighter that fights EVERYONE in Emmanual Augustus. So again, who did he avoid??

Its post like this that feed into this "HATE" that I'm referring to. If you really want to be nitpicky, ANYONEs career could be picked apart as to "why they didn't fight this person when"

I'd be comfortable if people just said they didn't care for just 'cause' not try to rationalize with something thats easily refutable.

The way Floyd is hated on her you'd think he was some "C" level fighter.

The fact that his names comes up damn near weekly DEFINITELY monthly and he's been out the game for 7 months speaks to his stance.

Hm, a fighter who's fought 39 times at a high level and never once been cut but somehow he's a "clown". I'm sure thats a "bozo" many active fighters would love to be.

I remember watching both fights and the first fight definately could have went to Castillo, and I thought the rematch was very close too. No way did Mayweather CLEARLY beat him the second time. I do not remember how Lederman scored it or what the official cards were. I just remember me thinking it was a very close fight.

Bla bla bla. Broken record time again Marz.

I should clarify myself & use small one or two syllable words when talking about Floyd so you can understand.

I don't think anyone questions PBF's achievements at 130 or even 135. It is his post ligtweight years when people actually knew who he was that he took the path of least resistance not when he was a unknown club fighter who could not sell out a 5000 seat arena. Whoops my mistake he could not sell out a 5000 seat arena when fighting another name fighter in Mitchell.

As for Tszyu there is no fighter close to Tszyu's style on PBF's record either. It is what they did in the ring that makes me think Tszyu would beat him & I do not need to "proove" that to anyone. When I say he already beat a Mayweather a man with 2 braincells banging around their head knows Roger as a fighter was not on PBF's level or even close to his style. It is a pity that you only have the one brain cell floating around your cranium.

I know I know I just edited my post because I am stupid. I was under the impression that by then PBF was a PPV "superstar" after he alone sold the Gatti fight & cemented his status as the hero of a modern generation.

You guys might not like Mitchell but I do like his style,but not what he wears..

Something I've been wanting to ask for a while. But what happen in the Vince Phillips fight with Kostya Tszyu. I mean I seen the fight but DAMN that was brutal. Yea Roy got two brutal ones but no one ever seems to bring this up.

Damnnnnnn!!

About Kostya though,Kostya fought more than just boxers..Ben Tackie is a prime example..Tackie is a mad man who will never stop coming no matter how hard you hit him..Kostya can beat any type of fighter,no doubt about it..His style varies depending on who he fought..He adapted to everyone he fought post-Phillips..I don't count the Hatton fight because it seemed like he didn't wanna really fight the fight..His work rate was comparable to none at jr. welterweight..He punches in his sleep!!Roger and Floyd are very different..Roger was a bum and Floyd is great..Floyd/Tszyu would of been a mega fight for sure..Tszyu was the only guy Floyd respected around his weight(before fighting or talking about fighting them)..I think Tszyu would of had a chance to beat him..

I lost all respect for Mitchell after his "my leg my leg!" biatch act when he could not handle the pressure. He gained my respect in the rematch by showing a lot of heart.



Phillips found out the only way to beat Tszyu. Come forward take one to land two & apply consistant pressure INSIDE. Tszyu was going through a lot of personal problems at the time including losing a multi million $ lawsuit with his former promoter but that is not a excuse for Tszyu. Tszyu never offers a excuse.

Ok glad you put that there cause I was about to let you have it. LOL No Excuses.