Floyd Mayweather: One of The Greats?

He may not win many popularity contests, but Floyd 'Money' Mayweather does what matters. He wins.

He's had 39 fights and has won them all, often against some of the world's greatest boxers, such as Oscar de la Hoya and Ricky Hatton.

But is he as good as he says he is? And how does he compare to the boxing legends such as Tyson or Ali? Pound-for-pound he is the best in the world, but is he near the best of all time?

Certainly, his accomplishments so far are phenomenal.

He is only one of eight ever quintuple boxing champions, having won belts at super featherweight, lightweight, super lightweight, welterweight and light middleweight.

His win record is also outstanding, winning 39 of 39 fights, something very few boxers have done. In fact, only two come to mind — Rocky Marciano who won all 49 of his fights with 43 knockouts, and Great Britain's Joe Calzaghe.

However, his 39 fights is a relatively small number compared to some of the other boxing greats. For example, 'Sugar' Ray Robinson and Archie Moore both fought more than 200 bouts in their careers, each recording over 100 knockouts.

However, these boxers also suffered a number of losses in their careers.

Mayweather's scheduled fight with Oscar de la Hoya will go some way to letting us see just how good the brash 31-year-old is.

If he can beat another quintuple champion twice, and can make it to 40 fights won and zero lost, then he deserves his place among the boxing greats.

So, we have established that he has the championship qualities of a great, and the win record of a great, but does he have the 'fear factor?'

There have been a number of boxers greatly feared by their peers in the ring. I'm not sure Mayweather has that. Sure, his opponents are aware of his lightning-quick hands and his ability, but they don't seem scared of him.

'Iron' Mike Tyson is a prime example of a boxer with the fear factor.

He was often referred to as 'the baddest man on the planet,' and during his amateur days, boxers were known to lose on purpose so they wouldn't have to face him. This was partly because of his aggression inside the ring, an aspect of his game that was almost unrivaled.

However, Mayweather tends to stand off a bit, and while this is tactically good, fighters will always think they have a chance to go on the offensive and do some damage to him.

One aspect of Mayweather's game that he is better than almost anyone at is trash-talking his opponent.

Before a fight, he always comes across as cocky and arrogant, and he backs it up in the ring. Only one boxer comes to mind that had the same level of confidence as Mayweather — Muhammad Ali.

So, he can match the man widely regarded as the best of all time on the microphone, but could he do it in the ring?

I don't think so.

Mayweather is a great fighter, but Ali was something else and will be in the top two of almost anyone's top 10 boxers ever list, usually sparring with 'Sugar' Ray Robinson for the top spot.

So, Mayweather has the record, the championships, and the ability on the mic of a legend. Can the greatest pound for pound fighter in the world today compete with the greats, though?

I don't think so just yet, but a win against de la Hoya would let him just creep into my top 10 of all time.