Roy Jones Jr.: Win Or Lose, Mayweather Is Not The Greatest Of All-Time
Before there was mixed martial arts, there was boxing, one of the most pure forms of competition taking place. Combat sports fans sat eager to see all-time heavyweight greats Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, and even Mike Tyson dish out emphatic knockout wins. Then there were the lighter weight classes ruled by the likes of “Sugar” Ray Leonard and others like Roberto Duran and Thomas Hearns.
However, boxing has changed. There aren’t many fights left that fans are chomping at the bit to see like in the old days. Some have even called boxing an ancient form of combat that has slowly withered away. But, there is still one fight. One fight that matters, and one fight that will get every boxing fan and many sports fans to buy pay-per-view, and it is set to go down tonight (May 2, 2015).
This evening a true spectacle will go down as the long-awaited and highly-anticipated super fight will finally come to fruition as reigning pound-for-pound king and boxing superstar Floyd “Money” Mayweather takes on eight-division world champion Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao in the fight of the century from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The undefeated, undisputed champion in Mayweather is facing the toughest test of his illustrious career, and many believe Pacquiao is the only many who can actually challenge the force known as “Money”. So what will a win mean for both men?
For Pacquiao, he will be known as the first man to finally dethrone “Money”. For Mayweather, it will be the final stamp on his perfect career. But will a win make Mayweather the greatest fighter of all time?
With some of boxing’s all-time greats having competed over 200 times and winning over 100 bouts, it’s hard to call Mayweather, who will look to secure his 48th win tonight, the greatest we’ve ever seen, and there is one boxer who believes there is no way that “Money” is the best ever.
Current WBU Cruiserweight champion and boxing legend Roy Jones Jr. appeared on a recent edition of the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani to discuss Mayweather’s status:
“No,” Jones Jr. said. “He’s not the greatest of all time. How are you the greatest of all time, because you’re 50-0? You’re fighting Manny Pacquiao, that’s good. And Manny Pacquiao is a good fighter. If you beat him, it’s tough because they’re gonna say, ‘Why didn’t you fight him in his prime?’ How are you the greatest of all time when you beat a guy that got knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez?”
However, Jones Jr. did indicate one thing that Mayweather is the best ever at and that’s of course making money:
“Are you the greatest ever because you beat a man that got knocked out by a man that you beat easily?” Jones Jr. “No, that don’t make you the greatest ever. It makes you the smartest business man ever. It makes you the best business boxer ever, because you made more money than any fighter ever.”
So who is the greatest fighter to ever grace boxing? According to Jones Jr., the answer is simple:
“If it wasn’t Muhammad Ali, I would have never boxed,” Jones Jr. “He’s the greatest because he didn’t just do it in the ring, he did it out of the ring.
“He didn’t do a lot of things that true boxers do, but look how dominant he was. He was so dominant that the whole world knew who the heavyweight champion of the world was before they knew anything else.”
Mayweather vs. Pacquiao is arguably one of the only relevant fight left in boxing, a fight fans have dreamed of for years. However, Jones Jr. doesn’t see it as a huge deal, noting that Mayweather had no other choice but to meet “PacMan”:
“He had to fight Manny,” Jones Jr. said. “There was nobody else available.
“His option really was only Manny Pacquiao. What else was he gonna do?”
What are your thoughts on Jones Jr.’s assessment of “Money”? Does Mayweather deserve to be talked about with boxing’s all-time greats?
