Floyd Mayweather would defeat many of the past greats. However, most of them fought at 147 or below. By nearly all accounts, Charley Burley fought at 147 and above, with his best natural weight being around 155 lbs.
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One could argue that the weight is not a factor. However, the other part of the Burley story is that he was in league with Robinson in terms of skill and fighting ability. I don't fully believe that Robinson ducked him. I do believe that managerial and business issues, as well as mob ties prevented them from fighting each other. Someone somewhere didn't like Burley and didn't want him to get a shot at anyone's title.
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Still, the one available piece of footage on Burley indicates that he is naturally bigger than Mayweather and fast and skilled enough to greatly trouble him.
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With his skill set, it's possible that no one, possibly outside of Robinson, could succeed in stopping Mayweather even if they could defeat him. Also, when comparing fighters from the past, it's only fair to consider 15 round fights. Mayweather is one of the few, of today's fighters, who would have no trouble going 15.
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Burley W 15.
Burley is a middleweight who whopped several lightheavyweight and outboxed a heavyweight who was around 6'5''
Burley by decision because of his size.
Willie Pep is greater than Mayweather but Mayweather would probably have beaten him for the same reason; his size
Burley UD
Floyd mayweather by UD.
Clash of the defensive genius'.
