I would say Zab Judah was certainly in his prime or close to it at the very least. Ricky Hatton should have stayed at 140 but I consider him a true welter and he was certainly in his prime when Floyd destroyed him. Call me crazy, but I still think Ortiz would have given Floyd problems had he not been knocked out like that. I would still pay to see a Floyd V Ortiz fight now if Ortiz was hungry enough which I think he is. Ortiz is disemble guerrero if they fight. Anyway, once Floyd got to Welter he started picking opponents carefully. At the smaller weights he was an absolute machine though picking apart bigger and tougher guys. To his defense though, by the time he moved to Welter a lot of the guys were old or just stepping in to move up to middle.
Mandingo nailed it Seven years? You even include the years he was out of boxing for Pete's sake!.
Baldomir was the unified champion when he fought and beat him.
Mosley was coming off a demolition of Margarito and was virtually offering himself as Pacquiao's next foe but Manny and his camp declined the offer with Freddie even saying that with Shane then able to bench press hundreds of kilos, he could break Manny in two. Review past reports on this in the internet.
Judah was a legit welterweight before losses prompted to move back down to 140. Floyd was moving up in weight when he fought Judah and Baldomir. Don't be a history revisionist, man.
Hatton had previously won a belt at welterweight beating Luis Collazo before he elected to go back to 140 lbs.
Victor Ortiz is a welterweight
Floyd fought Marquez at welterweight and although he came in above the agreed upon catchweight of 144, it did not prove that Marquez suffered from the disadvantage but in fact even profit from the experience as he is now considered by the Ring as # 2 welterweight after demolishing Pacquiao.
Don;t be a revisionist, man. You seem to forget that Floyd was also not a real welterweight in his first reign in the division. He was also considered as a small welterweight like Hatton, marquez, Pacquiao were or have been..
Floyd is a great fighter but to answer your question no he's not beaten a prime elite undefeated world champion. Zab judah Oscar de la Hoya and demarcus Corley were declined already and Ricky Hatton was an overrated natural Jr welterweight with a glass chin. I highly doubt that Floyd would be undefeated if he fought through Shane Mosley,Felix Trinidad or Oscar De la Hoyas career path they have had the toughest career in the past 25 years imho.
Well he fought Shane Mosley who was ranked as the #1 Welterweight in the world. He wasn't in his prime, but no one was saying that before Floyd beat him so you can't take credit away from him because he exposed Mosley.
He fought Victor Ortiz, #2 ranked Welterweight (Who really should have been ranked #1
He fought Carlos Baldomir who I believe was the Lineal Welterweight champion.
Those are the only true Welterweights i believe he fought but he also went up in weight twice. Once against De La Hoya who was a Super Welterweight that looked like a Middleweight.
He fought Miguel Cotto, who you could say was a Welterweight or a small Light Middleweight. Nothing in the fight with Mayweather indicated that he was past his prime. He wasn't a Welterweight but he was the #1 Light Middleweight in the world.
No he has not given your parameters, but the question I would pose in response is have their been any welters that fit that criteria during that same period? I have expressed the opinion throughout my time in this forum that both Floyd and Manny are great fighters as opposed to great welterweights. They were simply fortunate to have great timing on their side to capitalize on the sports recognition of 147 being by far the top division in the sport when this century started without having to face that level of competition. Floyd's divisional greatness should be judged at 130 and 135 where his full talents were on display and simply use his accomplishments at higher weights as nothing more than certification of his sheer superior abilities when compared to others at 130 & 135. Very few fighters throughout the last 70 years of the sport were truly all-time great in every weight-class they fought in and there is no shame in Floyd not being one of those few.
Good question.
I really can't think of one world class, prime, true welterweight that Floyd has fought. Like others have mentioned, Judah was probably the closest to that but even he was past his best and I wouldn't say he was ever an elite fighter.
The closest he got to that was DeLa Hoya and that was at 154 well past DeLa Hoya's prime, Zab Judah was at 147 but even then Zab was on the decline and not at the top of his game. Ricky Hatton was at 147, and Ricky was unbeaten at the time Floyd KOed him, but Hatton was a small welterweight fighting above his best weight of 140.
Mandingo Stallion deserves BA.
your right....but he has fought big names regardless of weight and age...hoya,moseley,judah,hatton, jmm,cotto,ortiz....etc....and these names are associated with winning regardless of stats.....as for welter who would you have him fight? khan?.....(although strangely i think khans style might trouble him)....i also think ortiz would or could have come close to stopping mayweather....ortiz was troubling him and got frustrated with floyyds shoulder defense and ended up headbutting him giving floyyd a way out.....
i'm not hating on floyd but he has been @welter for 7 years without fighting a good welter weight .
can we really judge floyd @147 when other than victor ortiz everyone he has fought has fought at lower weights for most of their careers .
Judah was the closest one to beating mayweather and de la hoya was the second closest
no floyds a coward gets no credit
