Former number one Floyd Mayweather has had his say on the current situation regarding the best pound for pound fighter in the world.
Following the championing of Terence Crawford by Bob Arum as the new top star on the back of Vasyl Lomachenko losing to Teofimo Lopez.
Before Lomachenko being defeated by Lopez, the Ukrainian was widely regarded as one of the best of the current crop, dependent on which list you look at.
Top Rank and ESPN have been criticized in the past due to their partnership. It usually means their own fighters feature at the summit, according to Mayweather.
As soon as ‘Loma’ was knocked off his pedestal, Crawford replaced him, but Mayweather says this should have been reversed in the first place.
“It’s crazy that the promoter Bob Arum (does this),” Floyd Mayweather told Club Shay Shay. “I can’t see how the fighters don’t see this.
“One minute he will say Ali is the best (pound for pound of all time), then it’s Mayweather and then it’s Pacquiao. Then it’s Lomachenko (as today’s pound for pound), and then it this guy.
“I mean these promoters they kill me. I am not throwing shade, but I look at guys like Terrence Crawford. He should be a lot bigger than he is. This shows that racism still exists.
“How can you say that Lomachenko is better than Terrence Crawford? Not in a million years!”
FLOYD MAYWEATHER at TOP RANK
In regards to his own time at Top Rank, which ended in 2006 acrimoniously, Mayweather added:
“I was active, and I would go to Top Rank. I would go to the office, and I would go to the board. Bruce (Trampler) was the matchmaker, and I would go in there say, ‘I want to fight this day,’ and he was like, ‘Floyd, you know you’re one of our top fighters, and you demand a heavy payday.’
“I would say, ‘pay me what you think I deserve. Pay me something solid as I want to stay active. I want to get to where I want to be in my career.’
“It wasn’t even a full two years, and I had seventeen fights, then I fought for the title. I should be upset with myself for what I did to the sport of boxing.
“Every fighter now says I want a Floyd Mayweather payday, But I put in a lot of hard work to get there.
“It wasn’t easy. It was very, very difficult. I wasn’t crying and complaining. And I was saying, ‘put him in front of me, and I will beat him.’
“I wanted to show the world that I am the best and that someday I would go down in history as the best,” concluded the five-weight champion.
WBN Editor Phil has over ten years of boxing news experience. Follow WBN on Facebook @officialworldboxingnews and Twitter @worldboxingnews.
