Floyd Mayweather names his five greatest boxers – snubbing Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson – but putting himself as No1
FLOYD MAYWEATHER declared himself as the greatest boxer of all time when asked for his top five – and snubbed both Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson.
The 45-year-old – who was announced as Boxrec’s No1 in June 2020 – believes he is levels ahead of everyone else after ending his career having won all 50 of his fights as a professional.
Mayweather appeared on rapper Fat Joe’s Instagram live video when he was asked with who his top five are.
Breaking it down, he stated: “We’re going to have to go, OK we’ll go Money Mayweather, we got to go Pernell Whitaker, imma go, Roberto Duran, man you put me in a tight predicament.
“As far as with the heavyweights, if we’re going to go heavyweights, I’m going to be honest, I’ve got to go Larry Holmes.”
Fat Joe then interjected where he stated that he doesn’t believe Holmes is better than Ali or Tyson, to which Mayweather said: “Do you want me to give you the breakdown?
“Larry Holmes beat everybody in his era, 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 and got beat by Tyson.
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“I’ve got to say Larry Holmes, he had the basic fundamentals, he had the jab and even right now he’s still living a great life because he made smart investments.
“So he was good from the beginning of his career to the end of his career.”
Detailing his final pick, Mayweather added: “Aaron Pryor, the only reason why Aaron Pryor lost a fight was because of drugs, he lost only one fight because of drugs.”
Here SunSport runs you down Mayweather’s top five greatest boxers of all time:
1. FLOYD MAYWEATHER
It comes as no surprise Mayweather has put himself in first place as he refers to himself as The Best Ever.
The American – who picked up a bronze medal at the 1996 Olympics – won 15 world titles across five weight divisions.
He holds notable victories against the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Ricky Hatton, Oscar De La Hoya, Saul Alvarez and Miguel Cotto.
And he easily defeated UFC mega-star Conor McGregor when he crossed-over to the ring back in August 2017.
2. PERNELL WHITAKER
The former boxer picked up world titles in four weight classes, as he finished his career in 2001 having won 40 out of 46 contests.
Whitaker – who died at the age of 55 in July 2019 – still holds the record as being the longest unified lightweight champion in boxing history after defending his title six times.
3. ROBERTO DURAN
The 70-year-old competed in a whopping 119 fights during his career that spanned 33 years from 1968-2001.
During that time he won 103 times, winning world titles in four divisions as he became just the second fighter after Jack Johnson to step inside the ring in five decades.
4. LARRY HOLMES
Even though his entry puzzled Fat Joe, the 72-year-old is a three-time former heavyweight world champion.
He was the only man to ever stop Muhammad Ali, while he also boasted victories against the likes of Trevor Berbick, Leon Spinks as well as Earnie Shavers.
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5. AARON PRYOR
A two-time light-welterweight champion, the Hawk won 39 out of his 40 fights – with 35 of his victories coming by way of knockout.
He finished his career in 1990 after knocking out Roger Choate in the seventh round.
His only defeat came at the hands of journeyman Bobby Joe Young after he spent 29 months out of the ring.