I don't think Manny is clearly ahead of Bernard Hopkins as the #2 fighter of this Era and it's not even close. ..I think Hopkins is right there behind him, maybe a few paces behind in the #3 slot
Wins over prime Oscar De La Hoya, prime Felix Trinidad, his middleweight run, continued success up into LHW for an extended period of time at 40+...they all keep Hopkins in the discussion imo. It's not a Floyd, Manny, & everybody else thing like it is a Jordan, Kobe, everybody else at SG thing
Yeah, well I guess I was thinking more in the 147 lb area, wasn't thinking outside. But to me, him or Hopkins ratings isn't important. I am kind of a lists guy and find them interesting, but I also hate when people take them too seriously and think that if a guy was 2 on one list and 3 on another it is a big deal and act like they couldn't just as easily be reversed with no controversy. My take is Manny has already put himself into that pantheon. Whatever he does from here on out is gravy. If he lost to Vargas, I would view it as more for Manny to consider calling it quits, not a referendum on his career.
To be fair with Hopkins, I don't think he had to fight Kovalev. That is just gravy on a great career. Him taking the fight itself is impressive at that stage in his career. A win certainly would look good, but a loss didn't diminish him one bit in my mind.
@seemorecizzy, is right in that there is a double standard for Mayweather. I agree and almost went into my feeling on that in my previous post, but didn't want to change my subject from Manny to Floyd in that post. Yes I agree there is a double standard with Floyd. Partly I feel that comes from the fact he still is the best. When you are the best, no matter if you are aging, you carry around that badge and people won't let it go until you aren't the best. Floyd also enhances it by being a walking 24/7 self advertisement that he is "TBE". When you claim you are TBE, I think you put expectations on yourself that you will live up to them and if you take fights vs. lesser opponents, I think people will still respect the legacy, but will give him a hard time in don't proclaim to be the best if you aren't fighting the best. And I think Floyd is just a more controversial person. Reality (fair or not) is people will always have higher expectations for him than other fighters. IMO, people do the same for Lebron. He is judge on a far more microscopic level than other players and given less leeway before criticism occurs. It isn't fair and the hardcore fan should be educated enough to see that, but I think he will always face that dilemma. I even place that double standard on Floyd, mainly because I still viewed Floyd as that good. Sure he had slipped a bit from his prime, but Floyd before retirement was still > than everyone else, so I enjoyed seeing the best (Floyd) fight other fighters who I thought deserved a matchup vs. him. That said...if Floyd were to return, my views have changed. Floyd has been out of the game for a bit, he has aged, so I personally don't need him to jump in vs. a young buck. Honestly I kind of expect him to fish around and look at a Pacquiao 2 fight. Whatever he does, to me, he deserves to do whatever he wants.
