Floyd Mayeather’s brave theorem that only three lanes are not a fighter, again aroused controversy in the era, in which four lanes masters define what it means to be great.
This, despite the fact that Mayweather competes in the contemporary era of four stripes in his entire career.
Now, convenient in retirement, Mayweather has recently made a surprising claim that the masters only needed three lanes to undoubtedly.
Redefinition of the unquestionable status of Mayweather
The definition of the undisputed master Mayweather is contrary to the current standards of the united championships established by WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO.
The unbeaten status officially required all four main sanction titles WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO for the last generation.
This claim is directly related to raising its status, given that “money” has ever united only three championships at the same time.
Mayweather said: “When you talk about the undisputed. To become unquestioned, you must have three or more belts – not all four of the four of the four organizations.
He added: “When I fought with Pacquiao, I had this belt (WBC), this belt (WBA Super). He had this belt (WBO), so I won these three (to become unquestioned).
“But these are all four boxing organizations.”
Three belts vs. Four: Up-to-date standard
The Tyweather’s repeated comments, made available on social media in 2025, caused a renovated debate.
Now, a few years earlier, the great Evander Holyfield, the undisputed master of two essential, criticized the Mayweather theorem about being “the best in history.”
“A real opportunity” said at that time that Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports, that Mayweather had to win the undisputed crown to support his claim.
“My whole thing, he is a great warrior. But to say that (he is the best), you must be unquestioned,” said Holyfield to Iole.
“You have to get all the lanes at the same time and inform everyone that I beat everyone who had a belt. I’m not unquestioned. I can’t just say:” I have this WBC belt, I got this WBC belt and I got this WBC belt “and all of them are WBC, and you don’t have the rest of the lanes to say that you are indisputable.
“The whole great thing is that this is not only this one lane – these are all these other belts. I wanted to be undisputed in which you can say that I am the undisputed world champion.”
Mikey Williams
Holyfield is preparing for the legacy of Mayweather
“From the time (Muhammad) Ali left, there was no unquestioned master, until (Mike) Tyson was the first to be unquestioned, then Buster Douglas, then me, and then Riddick Bowe, and then Lennox Lewis. Lennox was the last (in heavyweight).
“It was five guys who devoted time and said:” I don’t want to be one of the masters – I want to be undisputed, where everyone knows that I was the best.
“This is the only thing that Floyd is missing because he has never been the undisputed world champion in any weight division.”
He never achieved a feat in the ring, Mayweather seems to rewrite the definition of “undisputed” in retirement.
With contemporary warriors such as Terence Crawford, Oleksandr Usyk, Dmitry Bivol, Artur Beterbiev, Canelo Alvarez and Jermell Charlo achieving the unquestioned status on four lanes, the redefinition of this term seems more and more disconnected from contemporary boxing points.
The Heritage of Mayweather as an undefeated multi-purpose champion is undisputed-but his undisputed claim remains questioned.
Up-to-date four -lane unquestioned boxing masters
The following boxers had all the four main titles of sanctioning bodies (WBC, WBA, IBF, WBO) at the same time, officially recognized as unquestioned masters in a contemporary era of four stripes:
Lennox Lewis – heavyweight (1999)
Bernard Hopkins – Medium drive (2004)
Jermain Taylor – Middle Wweight (2005)
Terenca Crawford – Super Lightweight (2017)
Olkesandr Usyk – cruiser weight (2018)
Josh Taylor – super featherlight (2021)
Canelo Alvarez – Super Middle Wweight (2021, 2025)
Jermell Charlo – great welterweight (2022)
Devin Haney – featherlight (2022)
Nayya Inoue – Bantamweight (2022), Super Bantamweight (2023)
Terenca Crawford – welterweight (2023)
Olkesandr Usyk – heavyweight (2024)
Artur Beterbiev – lightweight (2024)
Dmitriry Bivol – lightweight (2025)
About the author
Phil Jay He is an experienced boxing journalist with over 15 years of experience covering the global fight scene. How The editor -in -chief of World Boxing News since 2010Jay conducted interviews with dozens of world champions and reported the ring to the largest boxing nights. [View all articles by Phil Jay] And find out more about his work in combat sports journalism.
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Paulie Malignaggi has offered his reaction to a reported clash between Shakur Stevenson and Manny Pacquiaowhich could feature on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua.
The all-British heavyweight showdown is expected to take place on December 11, headlining an event at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.
That is, of course, if Fury and Joshua actually make it to the ring, as despite it being announced earlier this week, The Ring’s Mike Coppinger has since reported that their fight is in jeopardy.
Prior to that, it had emerged that an encounter between Stevenson and Pacquiao – between whom there is a near two-decade age gap – was being planned for the same night in Wales.
Should it come to fruition, this would represent Stevenson’s first outing since signing with Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing, who he joined after dethroning Teofimo Lopez with a unanimous decision victory in January.
Pacquiao, meanwhile, has not fought since his draw with Mario Barrios in July 2025, when he ended a near four-year layoff and almost claimed the WBC welterweight title.
Yet despite that surprisingly impressive performance, former world champion Malignaggi has emphasised on his YouTube channel that, against Stevenson, the 47-year-old would be facing an entirely different competitor.
“Manny Pacquiao-Shakur Stevenson has no place on this card; [it] has no place in big-time boxing. I am completely befuddled.
“[I’m] disappointed in Stevenson; [I’m] disappointed in Zuffa, obviously. These are ‘click bait’ type of fights. These are names that draw attention, so you can get people to watch. Then the fight’s a dud and all these casuals sit there complaining about boxing, telling you why boxing’s dead.”
Malignaggi went on to credit Pacquiao with being “competitive against the worst world champion I’ve ever seen in my life”, emphasising a considerable difference between Barrios and Stevenson.
World Boxing News provides a round-by-round scorecard as Johnny Fisher faces Michael Pirotton at the Copper Box Arena in London.
Fisher and Pirotton collide over ten rounds at heavyweight as Zuffa Boxing stages its latest card in the United Kingdom.
The Romford Bull returns to action with Pirotton standing in his way as the British heavyweight looks to continue his climb.
WBN provides a live scorecard of the contest below, plus live results throughout the event.
Fisher vs Pirotton Scorecard
Johnny Fisher vs Michael Pirotton
(Round-by-round scorecard will refresh every 2 mins)
Heavyweight Copper Box Arena, London 10×3
Round
Fisher
Pirotton
Round 1
10
9
Round 2
10
9
Round 3
9
10
Round 4
9
10
Round 5
10
9
Round 6
10
9
Round 7
10
9
Round 8
10
9
Round 9
10
9
Round 10
10
9
WBN Totals:
98
92
Official Result: FISHER MD – 98-92, 96-95, 95-95
Zuffa Boxing
Preview
Fisher faces Pirotton in the first fight of his lucrative deal with Dana White and Zuffa Boxing.
The Briton enters the contest with a 14-1 record, while Pirotton brings a 12-2 record into the Zuffa Boxing 11 bout.
The event is available live on Sky in the United Kingdom and Paramount+.
The Fisher vs Pirotton event unfolds alongside more live coverage on World Boxing News.
About the Author
Phil Jay is the Editor-in-Chief of World Boxing News (WBN), a BWAA-acknowledged boxing news website founded in 2010. A veteran boxing reporter with 16 years of experience, he has interviewed world champions, broken international exclusives, and reported ringside from major events. His work is published worldwide through WBN and distributed on platforms including Apple News.
World Boxing News provides results and updates as Johnny Fisher faces Michael Pirotton on Zuffa Boxing 11 at the Copper Box Arena in London.
Fisher returns to heavyweight action over ten rounds against Pirotton as part of Zuffa Boxing’s latest event in the United Kingdom.
Craig Richards faces Radivoje Kalajdzic at light heavyweight, while Lee Cutler takes on Louis Greene and Cesar Mateo Tapia faces Leo Ruiz at middleweight.
WBN provides results and updates from every bout as they happen.
Results
All times are local BST.
23:41
Johnny Fisher defeated Michael Pirotton by majority decision after ten competitive heavyweight rounds at the Copper Box Arena. WBN scored the fight 98-92 for Fisherwhile the official judges returned scores of 98-92 and 96-95 for Fisher, with the third scoring it 95-95.
22:42
Radivoje Kalajdzic improved to 31-3 with a unanimous decision over Craig Richards, who dropped to 20-5-1 after a good ten-round scrap. Both men had their moments and hurt each other at times before “Hot Rod” got the verdict on the scorecards, which included knocking Richards down for the first time in his career.
21:43
Lee Cutler carded a unanimous decision win over Louis Greene in their ten-round middleweight clash. Judges scorecard 98-92 and 97-93 twice in favor on Cutler, who improves to 17-2.
20:52
Ahead of the three main bouts, Zuffa’s only female fighter, Kayla Allendefeated Edina Kiss via TKO in their super lightweight bout.
20:32
Leo Ruiz overcame Cesar Tapia over 10 rounds at middleweight, scoring a unanimous decision to move to 18-1 as Ruiz Tapia suffered a first loss.
19:29
Alex MacMillan moved to 5-0 with a second-round stoppage of Guillaume Azagier, who went down twice in the opening round and again before the finish at 0:32 of the second.
18:40
Rogelio Romero improved to 7-0 with a third-round stoppage of previously unbeaten Aurel Ignat, ending the cruiserweight contest at 2:12.
18:24
Alexis De la Cerda improved to 10-0 with a unanimous decision over Cain Lewis, taking the eight-round contest 80-72, 79-74 and 79-73.
17:42
Fred Pullen marked his professional debut with a four-round points victory over Leonardo Faretina, who was dropped in the second round.
Remaining Bouts
Johnny Fisher vs. Michael Pirotton — 10 rounds, heavyweight
Craig Richards vs. Radivoje Kalajdzic — 10 rounds, light heavyweight
TV Coverage
The event is available live on Sky in the United Kingdom and Paramount+.
Follow WBN’s live boxing coverage throughout the event.
About the Author
Phil Jay is the Editor-in-Chief of World Boxing News (WBN), a BWAA-acknowledged boxing news website founded in 2010. A veteran boxing reporter with 16 years of experience, he has interviewed world champions, broken international exclusives, and reported ringside from major events. His work is published worldwide through WBN and distributed on platforms including Apple News.
