FLOYD MAYBE MANY THINGS BUT DEFINITELY NOT BETTER THAN ALI AND SUGAR RAY
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 24 Apr 2015
It?s totally comical how Floyd Jr would try to impress himself and his psyche by throwing superlatives about himself.
And he hopes intelligent folks would believe what he is saying.
Case in point: In an interview with ESPN the results of which were published in the prestigious LA Times, Junior shamelessly claimed: - ?No one can ever brainwash me to make me believe that Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali were better than me.?
What a delusions of grandeur!
Floyd Jr., maybe the highest paid athlete in this century and the owner of many exorbitant and luxurious properties like sports cars, huge mansions and even a personal plane, but in my opinion, as a boxer he is nothing compared to the great Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson.
True he is undefeated, but that does not mean he fought all the greatest fighters in his weight class in their prime.
In fact many believe Junior may have ?cherry-picked? his opponents to create the illusions now projected by his undefeated record.
Junior refused to fight Manny Pacquiao some five years ago when Pacquiao was running down fighters from different weight classes like a runaway truck. He put up so many unimaginable reasons to shy away from the fight. He waited 5 years thinking that Pacquiao may have been damaged by his recent fights. But, even at that he is still unsure if that really is the case. So he keeps on saying all the unbelievable things to prop up his psyche.
However, the possibility that Pacquiao may be the first guy to force a dent in Junior?s self-perceived ?invincibility?
is now even greater than ever. Junior?s legs are no longer as slick, the presence of Alex Ariza and Memo Heredia, notwithstanding.
In my opinion, a win by Pacquiao will happen, albeit very difficult. Be that as it may, I still believe Mayweather will all of a sudden grow old for he has never fought a guy with Pacquiao?s speed and volume punches from all angles. Remember Oscar de la Hoya, and Ricky Hatton, and Tony Margarito? Junior is joining their ranks by late Saturday evening.
Junior was critical of Ali?s fighting style, particularly the ?rope-a-dope? tactic he used against Joe Frazier and George Foreman.
But he forgot that he too often times uses the ropes to his advantage. On top of that he loves to use his elbows and forehand, perhaps illegally in some ways.
It would be unimaginable to see Ali and Sugar Ray be less than a sportsman by doing what Junior did to Victor Ortiz. Yes, he threw legal punches that ended the fight. But where was the sportsmanship? Ortiz was offering an apology and Junior slugged him. Is that how a self-proclaimed TBE suppose to act?
How about coming in so far over the weight limit against Juan Manuel Marquez and refusing to reveal his true weight. No one claiming to be the best ever should be doing such stuff.
But Junior shamelessly did it and now he has the gull to claim that he is better than Ali and Sugar Ray.
Lame!
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