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.”

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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