Floyd Mayweather: Great Inside the Ring, Even Better Outside?

Floyd Mayweather is sitting on top of the boxing world.

That became pretty obvious as soon as his fight with Shane Mosley this past Saturday reached its conclusion. Except for one nervous moment when Sugar Shane connected with a big right hand in round two, Mayweather had his foe thoroughly outclassed and discouraged the entire time.

Since his brief retirement ended last year, he’s gone 2-0 and has barely lost a round. These weren’t garden variety opponents either, but men who had won world titles in multiple divisions. Mayweather made both Juan Manuel Marquez and Mosley look ordinary. 

Except for his tendency to allow his victims to hang around for 12 whole rounds, there’s not much you can knock about his in-ring game right now.

Anyone who was on the fence deciding between Money and Manny Pacquiao for the mythical pound-for-pound crown was probably won over by Saturday’s performance.

Yet as impressive as Floyd has been in the ring, I can’t help but think he’s been even better outside the ropes.

This is a guy who once bemoaned the fact that he was an undefeated champion and the general public didn’t seem to care, but he’s now the most recognizable name in the sport and its top draw as well.

Part of Mayweather’s recent success is unquestionably related to his transformation from “Pretty Boy” to “Money.” Early in his career, he believed his talent would speak for itself, often appearing confused and frustrated when the fame and riches didn’t immediately come rolling in.

He’s learned that in an individual sport like boxing, you are always your own best promoter. And if that means some people won’t like you, so be it.

The brash, cocky side of Mayweather’s persona is the bankable one. He’s embraced it and its ability to sell fights, and it’s hard to argue that it wasn’t the right move.

His decisions since returning to boxing last year have occasionally been risky but have so far all worked out in his favor.

When he picked Marquez for his first fight back, Mayweather got someone who wasn’t a huge mainstream name, but was highly regarded by fans of the sweet science, and beating JMM provided instant credibility and momentum to his return.

Floyd took an even bigger chance in drawing a hard line over drug testing when negotiating with Pacquiao, a decision that ended up scuttling what could have been the richest fight of all time.

Though the true motivation of Mayweather’s stance is certainly open for debate, the steroid-weary sports media largely ate up his call to clean up boxing.

Still, with Pacquiao moving on to fight Joshua Clottey on the date originally reserved for Mayweather-Pacquiao, Floyd needed someone else to battle. His stroke of good luck came when Mosley’s bout with Andre Berto was called off, freeing up a credible opponent.

Even though Mosley was not historically a big draw, he made the perfect foil at a time when one was desperately needed.

Aside from his past successes, Sugar Shane came into the fight off of arguably the most impressive outing of his career, his surprising domination of Antonio Margarito.

Mosley’s soft-spoken nature also allowed Mayweather to play the villain role he plays so well during the lead-up to the fight, and he dutifully sold the bout. By the time this past Saturday rolled around, there was very little talk of Shane’s age or recent activity. People were on board with the idea that Mosley was a worthy foe, even though Mayweather had been somewhat dismissive of him in the past.

Now Floyd looks like a genius. We won’t know exactly how many pay-per-view buys his fight with Mosley received for a few weeks, but it’s a slam dunk that it did much better than Pacquiao-Clottey.

The public is once again clamoring for him to make the superfight with Pac Man, but this time Money is holding more of the cards. He can stick to his guns on drug testing and possibly ask for more than 50 percent of the purse, secure in the knowledge that Pacquiao has more to lose, at least from a financial standpoint, if the bout never comes together.

Any way you slice it, that’s an impressive bit of maneuvering. We’ve come to expect that kind of slickness from Mayweather while he’s boxing, but it’s time to give him his due for his skill outside the ring as well.

Nick Tylwalk is the editor and co-founder of BoxingWatchers.com . Follow his Twitter feed @Nick_Tylwalk or the site's feed @boxing_watchers .