Maybe not weight-wise but he does have longer reach and height then most welter weights and some JMWs. In boxing thats more advantageous than having a weight advantage on ur opponent
He is now. I've said for years that Floyd is not a true welterweight. However, since he has fought successfully at 154, or at least against 154 fighters, he is not a true welterweight.
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He contradicted himself by saying that he could no longer make 140. However, for most of his career at 147, I believe he could have made 140 and performed well. But what would be the purpose? He has ruled the most relevant division in the sport for about a decade. I think he could have still made 140 up til about 2009-10.
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If you look at the list of fighters to fight in one division, drop down to another previously visited, only to fail once returning to that division, the list would consist of come of history's greatest. Leonard and Jones Jr. are among them. So is De la Hoya.
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IF a visit to a previous division can be ventured successfully, Mayweather would be the man to do it. You can tell that he DOES his homework and that his primary agenda is to learn all he can from the mistakes of the greats of the past.
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I've always wondered why others didn't learn that lesson. Why didn't Jones Jr. learn from Leonard, against Norris? Why didn't De la Hoya learn from Jones Jr., against Tarver, after returning from heavyweight?
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Floyd is now a true welterweight but that is only recently. He's 36 and I can't possibly put into words how much I respect what he has been able to do, in terms of preserving himself. People hate Tom Brady because he doesn't make the mistakes of others. People hate Floyd Mayweather for similar reasons.
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You really can't go wrong with either man. The haters must also hate themselves to a degree. The reason Floyd is a true welterweight is because he has taken care of himself all his career.
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I do understand his meaning though. He's not a very big welterweight. He weighs in around 147 and fights at that weight, where most would weigh in at 147 and step into the ring at or above 160. I think that's what he's getting at in the interview. In that regard, he's a true welterweight but not the typical one.
I 1st sparred Floyd when he was 95 pounds 3 or 4 days during a week in late 1991 or very early 1992 then watched him win his 1st national golden glove championship at 106lbs held that year was(1993) in Little Rock Arkansas, where I qualified for the national golden gloves at 112lbs in the same tournament. 106 pounds in 1993 to 125 in 1996 http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=O%27... where I fought him in the 1996 national golden gloves finals held in Cleveland Ohio 125 pounds. Since I have watched him grow into a fair sized welterweight but he is not a natural welterweight and probably could comfortably fight at 140 if he were to cut back on any lifting of weights and diet but why would he bother?
His body hasn't been down to 140lbs so he can't make the weight which mean's he's a natural welterweight. By today's rules he's a natural at 147lbs but if he fought in the 40's where weigh-ins were held the same day of the fight he would be a natural 154lbs fighter. Mayweather has never weighed in at 154lbs during a fight, the heaviest he's been at 153lbs but during fights he has weighed in over 147lbs since his debut in the division. His fighting weight is about 152lbs [junior middleweight].
Floyd just wanted the fans to excuse his azz when he declares his lighter opponent for the May fight.
Khan & Maidana ain't no welters, Sean. So let's all suck it when he picks one of them.
I think he is at this point of his career.
He says no: http://www.fighthype.com/news/article15834.html
