Floyd Mayweather's Top 5 'Greatest Boxers of All Time' didn't include either Mike Tyson or Muhammad Ali
09/04/2024 12:48 PM
With 50-0 superstar Floyd Mayweather back in the news following his rather strange exhibition fight against John Gotti III last weekend, let's take a look back at one of Money's most divisive boxing opinions.
Specifically, Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather was once asked to rank the best five boxers in the history of the sport, and it came as a shock when 'Money' didn't include either of the two heavyweight legends.
Floyd Mayweather's Top 5 boxing GOATS didn't feature Ali or Tyson
Back in 2020, Floyd Mayweather sat down for a fascinating interview on Instagram Live with popular American rapper 'Fat Joe', with the pair talking about everything from their childhood upbringings to the music scene and of course, the world of professional boxing.
Towards the end of the conversation, Fat Joe would ask Mayweather to name his five greatest boxers of all time, and unsurprisingly, the 50-0 superstar put himself in the #1 spot – but it was his 2-5 rankings that garnered the headlines.
"We've got to go Money Mayweather #1 – then we got to go Pernell Whitaker," – 'Sweet Pea' competed between 1984 and 2001, becoming a four-weight world champion from lightweight all the way through to light middleweight.
Next up, Mayweather stated "Imma go Roberto Duran", which isn't a particular surprise given how the Panamanian remains one of the most iconic boxers of all time, and also a four-weight world champion.
Yet this is where Mayweather's list takes a decidedly controversial turn as he explained: "Imma go – man you've put me in a tough predicament – as far as the heavyweights, ah man; if we're going to go heavyweights, I'm being honest – I got to go Larry Holmes.
"You want me to give you the breakdown? Larry Holmes beat everyone in his era and when Larry Holmes got beat by Mike Tyson, he got beat by a young, hungry champion and he came out of a year's retirement to get beat by Tyson."
As Fat Joe and 'Money' Mayweather argued over the inclusion of Holmes over the likes of Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali, the former professional boxer would share how this particular pick comes down to looking at the bigger picture.
"Heavyweight is a little different to the smaller guys, and he had dynamite in his gloves – I got to say Larry Holmes; he had the basic fundamentals, he had the jab and even right now he's still living his best life because of smart investments.
"He was good from the beginning of his career to the end of his career; Larry Holmes came back and beat a lot of young guys too and even though Tyson got him, he still beat Ray Mercer."
So, that's Floyd Mayweather, Pernell Whitaker, Roberto Duran, and Larry Holmes – so who was the fifth greatest boxer of all time according to 'Money'?
"Aaron Pryor," stated the legendary athlete, with Pryor competing between 1976 and 1990; having become a two-time light welterweight champion and in turn, voted 'the world's best welterweight of the 20th Century' by the Associated Press.
"The only reason why Aaron Pryor lost a fight was because of drugs – he lost only one fight because of drugs."
Joe Rogan defends Mayweather over 'firing' referee during his most recent fight
On August 24, Mayweather competed in an exhibition boxing fight against former MMA fighter John Gotti III and managed to steal the headlines when he 'fired' the referee halfway through the contest.
This came after the official deemed one of Mayweather's punches as illegal, which enraged 'Money' to the point where after a heated argument, a different official stepped in to referee the final portion of the bout.
Whilst fans and pundits alike debated whether the decision was the right call, UFC commentator Joe Rogan has come out to defend the boxing icon.
"The first referee was terrible, the referee called Floyd Mayweather for hitting behind the head, [which was] absolutely an incorrect call – Floyd threw a right hand and it caught him on the side of the head and the referee claimed that it was behind the head," Rogan shared on the JRE podcast.
"So, Floyd fired the referee in the middle of the bout. He stops the bout and he's like 'Get the f*** out of here!’ Also, they're in Mexico City, you can get killed, so just get out of the ring buddy. Floyd was 100 per cent correct, the punch landed to the side of the head.
- EXPLAINED: Dana White gives a fascinating insight into how he met Joe Rogan and convinced him to join the UFC
"Floyd is like 'what the f*** are you talking about?' That wasn't the back of the head, so he kicks the guy out and they finished the fight… It was an exhibition, it's kind of a bulls*** money grab, honestly."
According to Rogan, "If anybody is qualified to say get the f*** out of here it's Floyd Mayweather," as he labeled 'Money' as "the best boxer of all time" – which brings us back nicely to his own Top 5 boxing GOAT list: Whitaker, Duran, Holmes, Pryor, and of course, Mayweather himself.
