Mayweather Tops P4P Ranking for Picking on a Smaller Guy
by Danny the Celluloid Rolodex
From the get-go, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., has already been criticized by legions of detractors for his choice of opponents, and also for his choice of words. More often, his critics say he is “more mouth than action.”
In fact, he provoked the MMA world with his fiery comment “MMA is for beer drinkers.” Moreover, he downplayed the combat sport as a temporary fad saying any quality boxer could easily win a UFC belt. He eventually took back his word when UFC President Dana White offered him a fight with then UFC Lightweight Champion Sean Sherk.
Mayweather is a superb boxer with very exceptional physical gifts. No doubt about it. But the fact remains that he picked a smaller guy to fight when there are equally-sized boxers out there who are willing to dance with him on the ring.
Coming out of retirement, Mayweather took on a small guy, Juan Manuel Marquez. No disrespect to Marquez. He is one hell of a boxer. Yet still, talent and skill alone won’t win you the fight if the other boxer is as equally talented and skilled. The latter’s edge, however, is his size.
Generally, skill beats strength while technique beats size. However, this paper-rock-scissors logic does not hold water in the case of Mayweather and Marquez. Mayweather’s skill and talent is a variable that offers a different outcome when you also consider his size advantage.
For his lopsided victory over the smaller Mexican, Mayweather’s stock rose in Yahoo! Sports’ pound-for-pound rankings. Now wait a second. Let’s give it a pause and think about this: Despite his demolition job against Ricky Hatton, Manny Pacquiao got brushed off from the top spot while Mayweather gets top P4P credits for picking on a smaller guy?
I don’t like him for his “more mouth less action” antics, but I gotta admit that his absolutely brilliant.