See my post on page two for boxers. And I'll say it now, I don't believe Ali is the most dominant (though I do believe he was the greatest). Too many guys gave him a tough time, even during his peak. Guys like Robinson, Tyson and Dempsey were simply unstoppable during their primes.
Is Gretzky the most dominant athlete ever in any major sport?
- Thread starter Cursed Lemon
- Start date
See my post on page two for boxers. And I'll say it now, I don't believe Ali is the most dominant (though I do believe he was the greatest). Too many guys gave him a tough time, even during his peak. Guys like Robinson, Tyson and Dempsey were simply unstoppable during their primes.
The Press Express
Registered User
Hate to be that guy (I hate Nascar) but diddnt Jimmie Johnson win 4 straight Nascar Titles from 2006-2010, Thats just incredible! Also Tiger in his prime was near unstoppable! You also cant forget about Floyd "Money" Mayweather who has yet to lose a fight! I think he is around 46-0.
Mayweather has yet to even fight in a fight. He consistently ducks serious contenders.
Okay, that was uncalled for and untrue. He fought Oscar, Marquez, Cotto and Mosley after all.
But the guy rarely fights anymore (5 fights since 09). And when I think dominant, I don't think of a guy that won half his fights by decision. And I don't think of a guy who faces most of his big name opponents when they're on the brink of retirement.
Mayweather will always be remembered as a great boxer, but never a great, or even good fighter. He'll be remembered as the Ron Francis of boxing (if Francis was an arrogant ****** who spent most of his career in court).
Okay, that was uncalled for and untrue. He fought Oscar, Marquez, Cotto and Mosley after all.
But the guy rarely fights anymore (5 fights since 09). And when I think dominant, I don't think of a guy that won half his fights by decision. And I don't think of a guy who faces most of his big name opponents when they're on the brink of retirement.
Mayweather will always be remembered as a great boxer, but never a great, or even good fighter. He'll be remembered as the Ron Francis of boxing (if Francis was an arrogant ****** who spent most of his career in court).
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The Press Express
Registered User
You have to be pretty darn good to win 44 fights (26 wins by KO) only fight I have seen him push aside is Pacquaio, this is because they cannot agree on how to divide the enormous amount of revenue generated by the fight. The fight was projected to attract 3 million customers through pay per view which would bring in about 250 million dollars. Add Sponsorships and Ticket revenue and your looking at MASSIVE lump of cash! I have no idea which other fights he has turned down but your crazy if you think Mayweather is not an elite fighter
Cruor
Registered User
- May 12, 2012
- 799
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Mayweather is an elite boxer for sure, defensively and technically you could argue he is an all time great. However there is some truth to what the other poster said, it's not by happenstance he goes by the name "Money". He is very careful in picking his fights, and most big fights he took were when the opposition were older and in decline. This shows on the fairly low number of fights he's done too.
You could also argue he's not much of a crowd pleaser with his defensive counter-boxing aswell. If that has any bearing on ATG-lists. For the Paquiao situation, there was no reason for him not to accept a 50-50 purse split at the time. Personally I think the reason was he wanted to protect his 0 loss record.
You could also argue he's not much of a crowd pleaser with his defensive counter-boxing aswell. If that has any bearing on ATG-lists. For the Paquiao situation, there was no reason for him not to accept a 50-50 purse split at the time. Personally I think the reason was he wanted to protect his 0 loss record.
Mayweather is a great fighter. His defense is amongst the best in history. But a dominant fighter? No. He does not belong in this conversation.
As far as ducking fighters goes, Mayweather used every excuse in the book to avoid Pacquiao, from drug testing (which Pacuiao agreed to) to dates and venues that Mayweather was "unavailable" for to then refusing to split the revenue with Pacquiao. As in, he told Manny "this is as much as you'll get, no share of revenue beyond that" which is just an absurd demand.
And then he tried ducking Alvarez. First, he refused to sign a contract to fight Canelo, saying "We'll fight, I just don't want to put my name on it right now". Then he tried to demand that Alvarez drop in weight (despite Mayweather holding a title in Canelo's weightclass).
He dodged Margarito again and again while Margarito's camp was on their knees begging Money for the fight, he dodged Cotto (which led to the Margarito-Cotto bout).
His entire career is made on waiting to fight guys until they are past their prime, jumping on guys who are just moving up in weight class, and adding ridiculous stipulations to any fights to either weaken his opponent or make them back out completely. He himself has stated he tries to avoid taking on strong opponents because he's "getting older".
Mayweather is a brilliant, gifted boxer. All the talent in the world. But he never backed up the talk of him being the greatest of all time. When people look back fifty years from now, they'll remember Mayweather as talk and broken promises. Can you imagine how Ali would be viewed if he refused to fight Frazier? That's what people think of Mayweather not fighting Manny.
I've already discussed Marciano's record. In fact, in boxing people put very little stock in records. It's not about wins and losses, it's about who you fought. It's why nobody outside of Kitchener knows who Fitz Vanderpool is despite the guy being the oldest Canadian champ ever (breaking George Chuvalo's long-standing record), having come out of a seven year retirement to win another belt to bring his total to six professional championships (including the WBF world title and WBC international).
Morozov
The Devil Killer
- Sep 18, 2007
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I couldn't really care less about his record either, but if somebody wants to boost Mayweather for his record well there you go.
I still think Tyson is the most "dominant" Boxer.
The Press Express
Registered User
Certainly guys, I hate Mayweather and would love to see him get his ass kicked because of his incredibly large ego, but I just dont think anyone can do it in this era
Morozov
The Devil Killer
- Sep 18, 2007
- 13,846
- 364
His style may not be the most exciting but he's a massive PPV draw it may not be crowd pleasing but he draws more viewers than anyone.
Which is why he was more than entitled to want more than a 50/50 split, Mayweather is worth more money than Manny so he should get a bigger cut. It shouldn't be much difference but there should be one.
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I'm so torn between Tyson and Sugar Ray. I'd lean toward Tyson, but it's so difficult to ignore Robinson's accomplishments and how many guys he beat the tar out of
kook10
Registered User
- Jun 27, 2011
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leeroggy
Registered User
- Jan 3, 2010
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I'm not denying that, but my point is: to be considered as dominant as Gretzky or Bolt for example, you can't be beaten, while in your prime, from one opponent again and again. And Nadal has a 20-10 record against Federer. While for me Federer is the best ever, he is just not as dominant. I don't see it.
The Zetterberg Era
Ball Hockey Sucks
Spitz is not Phelps equal, though Phelps essentially passing up on winning more medals in Brazil will likely impact that discussion. He still dominated on a level that is clear cut above anybody else in terms of swimming.
Not a lot of women thrown out here, but have to think Mia Hamm's numbers are in another stratosphere compared to the rest of the women in her sport and she along with Michelle Akers were the only two women players listed on FIFA's 125 greatest soccer players back in 2004. She certainly has a glittering resume of accomplishments to bring here.
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The Zetterberg Era
Ball Hockey Sucks
Jim Thorpe might be the greatest athlete of all-time, but dominant might be another thing. The guy could do anything at an elite level to read historical accounts at him. But in terms of blowing other competitors out while doing it, not sure that scans the same way?
barnztormre
Our goley is awsom
A great fighter, one of the greatest, but a lot of question marks again. Race played far too big a role in Johnson's career (what he did for black fighters was both a boon and a bane). At first, they wouldn't let him fight white fighters, and then when he became champ, he refused to fight black opponents on the grounds that he would make more money fighting whites. He didn't exactly take on all comers, and tended to duck fights. Reminds me of another fighter from that era, who I mentioned earlier in this thread. Jack Dempsey, while a phenomenal fighter who put on the single most dominant fight I've ever witnessed was also known for ducking opponents and it's what keeps him from being at the top of this discussion.
David Bruce Banner
Nude Cabdriver Ban
Him and Lionel Conacher.
Anyway, Babe Ruth's records were off the grid.
And then there's this guy...
Roy Jones Jr is most dominant boxer up until he went up in weight class and it ruined his speed but it lasted for 15 years, long enough.
If you want to talk switching weight classes, it was Robinson's performance at welterweight and middleweight that brought forth the idea of a "pound for pound" best boxer. It didn't exist before him. The guy won nearly 90 amateur fights before he finished puberty, knocked out 84 men professionally, and went unbeaten for over 90 fights. And this was in just 8 years to boot. How many fights did RJJ fight during that 15 year stretch?
Numerous respected writers and boxing historians consider Sugar Ray the greatest fighter of all time. The man fought nearly two hundred times and lost fewer than 10% of those fights over a 25 year period.
RJJ was a great fighter for sure. You have to be to capture titles at four different weight divisions. But he fought three, four times a year while Robinson sometimes fought three or four times a *month*, which he was able to do because the fights rarely ended with his opponent standing.
Yeah, the reason i'm for RJJ is the way he was able to handle his opponents, he was able to play with them.
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