Mayweather retirement great for boxing

Floyd Mayweather will forever be known as one of the best boxers of all time. However, he will not be none as the best. Last Saturday night Mayweather dominated Andre Berto to tie Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 record. When talking about the greatest of all time, Mayweather can say he never lost. What he cannot say is that he beat the best.

I previously wrote that Andre Berto would test Floyd in his final fight. Man was I dead wrong. Floyd toyed with Berto all night long. It was the closest Floyd has come to a knockout in years. He was barely touched, as Berto only landed 80 punches as opposed to Floyd’s 230. No judge had the fight closer than a 6 point difference, and the highest difference was 12. This was no challenge, it was a tune up fight, but there’s no one to tune up for.

With Mayweather announcing his retirement after the fight, it is probably the worst final fight to any legendary fighters career. Muhammad Ali had some bad fights at the end of his career, but at least he was challenging himself. Rocky Marciano’s final fight was against his biggest challenger at the time Archie Moore, who is ranked as the 4th greatest puncher of all time according to The Ring. Joe Louis’s last fight was against Rocky Marciano in his prime and he lost. Louis retired their after. For Mayweather, there is no Marciano in this era. What helps him is that he has fought in by far the easiest era in boxing history. However, there still are presentable challenges such as Miguel Cotto, Canelo Alvarez, Keith Thurman, etc. Floyd chose not to choose any of them, and take on a tier three contender in Andre Berto.

Nothing could be better for the sport of boxing than Floyd Mayweather leaving it. Floyd has been the face of boxing for over a decade. He has had domestic violence issues, legal issues, banned substance accusations, and threw a blatant cheap shot at Victor Ortiz a few years ago. That is who has represented the sport. He has also not been an entertaining superstar. His duck and run style does not draw fans in. Boxing needs young stars that are aggressive fighters and are entertaining.

In my opinion there are three fighters who can fill and exceed as superstars in Floyd’s absence.

Deontay Wilder is the rising star of the heavyweight division. The Alabama native stands at 6 foot 7, is undefeated in 34 fights, 33 of which are KOs. He is a true knockout king. A brawler. Wilder stands toe to toe with his opponents with the intention to knock them out. The end result is fireworks in the ring. Wilder is currently the WBC Heavyweight Champion. He is on track to fight Wladimir Klitchsko at some point soon to unify all heavyweight titles. Next fight is September 26th vs. Johann Duhaupas on NBC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-PYG1An3xs

Canelo Alvarez once fought Floyd Mayweather at the ripe age of 23 years old, and fought at about 7 pounds lighter than he normally does. Fighting at a lower weight class was a huge disadvantage for Alvarez against Mayweather. At the weigh in Alvarez looked sickly and incredibly thin so that he could make his weight. Since his loss to Mayweather, Alvarez has dominated his competition. He has developed into one of the fiercest punchers in the world. Proof came in his last fight against James Kirkland when he landed at least 5 incredible power punches. Next fight is November 11th vs. Miguel Cotto on PPV. 

Danny “Swift” Garcia has shown off his talent twice of Premier Boxing Champions so far. In both fights he has been fast, accurate, and powerful. He is undefeated at 31-0, his most impressive victory was against than champion and heavy favorite Amir Khan. At just 27 years old, Garcia’s reminds me of Floyd Mayweather more than any of these other fighters. While Garcia is more of a power puncher than Floyd, he is still a dancer. He’s a pro at ducking and dodging, some fights he is barely touched. Garcia is taking the rest of the year off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl1hL8jO_tE