Floyd Mayweather believes he could have been kicked out in any era and he would have come out with tact and maintained his undefeated record.
The sport’s biggest pay-per-view star proved his skills in 50 fights and five divisions, retiring in 2017 with zero losses and huge wins over the likes of Oscar De La Hoya, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Zab Judah and Shane Mosley.
With a record like that, it would be tough not to be confident. Mayweather has repeatedly said that he believes he is the greatest fighter of all time like Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson.
Sugar Ray Leonard – named after Robinson – has had something to say about this in the past. Leonard defeated Floyd Mayweather Sr. by TKO in 1978 and made clear his belief that he would do the same to his son.
Actually talking to Box Hub TV prior to Mayweather’s victory over Manny Pacquiao, Leonard praised the defending champion, saying he could have been competitive in the Four Kings era, but he chose each of his rivals to win.
“Mayweather can compete with the four of us in our era, but he could exploit a little more fire. Could he beat me? No. Could he beat Tommy? I don’t think so. Could he beat Hagler? No. Could he beat Duran? No.
“With that in mind and with all due respect to Mayweather, who was an incredible technician, if you asked him he would have said the same thing, that in my day he could have beaten us and beaten our guys. Fighters say that and believe it. Fighters believe they can beat anyone, and if you don’t say you can beat anyone, you’re not a fighter.”
Consisting of the charismatic Leonard, the iron-chinned Marvin Hagler, the explosive Thomas Hearns and the tenacious Roberto Duran, the Four Kings lived through the sport’s golden era in the 1980s, fighting each other, often on multiple occasions, at the peak of their careers and with everything to lose.
Considering Mayweather’s highest fighting weight was 154 pounds, the predictions may not come as much of a surprise. Hagler fought at middleweight throughout his career, while Hearns and Leonard fought for their first world titles at 147, but then moved up through the divisions, particularly “The Hitman”, who fought at cruiserweight and even considered challenging Mike Tyson. The most intriguing matchup for Mayweather would be Duran, obviously smaller than the three Americans but every bit as powerful.