Mike Tyson: Floyd Mayweather cannot be the greatest boxer of all time with just 50 wins.
Legendary Mike Tyson believes that Floyd Mayweather’s record of 50 undefeated fights is not enough to qualify him as the greatest boxer of all time.
Floyd Mayweather Jr is considered the number one boxer in the world today, with a record of 50 wins and 27 knockout victories in his career. The American fighter has defeated renowned names in the boxing world, including Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, and Manny Pacquiao.
In February, Mayweather had plans to return to the ring for an exhibition match against famous YouTuber Logan Paul. This marked his comeback after more than two years away from the sport since his technical knockout victory in the first round against young Japanese fighter Tenshin Nasukawa in 2018, which earned him nearly 10 million USD.
However, Mayweather’s matchup with Logan Paul did not materialize. Prior to that, Mayweather also defeated UFC star Conor McGregor in 2017.
Iron Mike Tyson believes that despite Mayweather’s perfect record, the undefeated 50-fight boxer is not the greatest boxer of all time. Tyson asserts that Sugar Ray Robinson and Julio Cesar Chavez had more impressive careers than Floyd Mayweather. Mexican legend Chavez had an impressive record of 87 consecutive wins before settling for a draw against Pernell Whittaker in 1993 and experiencing his first loss a year later.
Meanwhile, Robinson is widely regarded as the greatest boxer of all time. He had an astounding career with 173 wins, 19 losses, and 6 draws, but there was a period when Robinson only suffered a single defeat in 132 fights.
While Tyson has high praise for his contemporary, he states, “Floyd is a tremendous fighter, don’t get me wrong, but he only has 50 fights. Listen to this, Sugar Ray Robinson won 47 fights in a row, lost one, then went on a streak of 78 consecutive wins, with 60 knockouts.”
Sugar Ray Robinson is widely regarded as the greatest boxer in the history of the sport of boxing.
“Don’t talk to me about the greatest boxer with a 50-0 record. There’s no doubt about that, he’s a great fighter. But Chavez also had 90 undefeated fights, even though he had to fight up to 8 times in a year and face any boxer on the rankings,” Tyson added.
Mike Tyson had a record of 50 wins in professional boxing before announcing his retirement in 2005. In 2020, he made a surprising comeback to the ring to face Roy Jones Jr in December, resulting in a draw. The fight was the biggest boxing event of 2020 and garnered over 1.6 million pay-per-view buys for Tyson’s performance.
Although he didn’t secure a victory, he received much praise. The boxing legend is expected to have another exhibition fight later this year. “I feel that I can do it again. Absolute victory. This time will be better,” Tyson shared.
