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Right now, there’s a lot of criticism being thrown in the direction of the sport’s best pound for pound fighter. To put it lightly: boxing fans have not been particularly impressed with Floyd Mayweather’s choice of Andre Berto as the (supposedly) final opponent of his storied career. At yesterday’s press conference for the event, Mayweather himself acknowledged this, saying that “nobody is forced to buy the fight.” While that is undoubtedly true, it’s also true that he has opened in some sportsbooks as large as a 100/1 favorite over Berto. By even the most charitable of definitions, that indicates a pretty egregious mismatch in favor of the champ.

Now, Floyd is not the first high profile champion to take an easy fight, nor he is the first to do it at the tail end of his career. This is not something we’re here to debate. What we’re here to do is take a look at some other times in “Money” Mayweather’s career when he climbed into the ring with a fighter who was facing long odds across from him. We’re here to rank Floyd’s five softest touches.

Before we get into it, a couple of ground rules: First, we’re not here to look at guys Floyd fought on his way up in his early days in the sport. In the modern boxing landscape, high-profile up-and-coming prospects fight their fair share of tomato cans to showcase their talents and get them acclimated to the pro game. Whether that be a good thing or a bad thing, that’s just the way it is. Because of this, we’re instead going to be looking at fights Floyd has had since competing for titles. That’s the cutoff. Second, hindsight is in full effect here. We know now what we know now, far away from the hype and wondering of the present moment. A guy looked decent leading up to his fight with Floyd but then was blown-out and subsequently scurried from the spotlight? That’s a mismatch, no matter how it looked at the time. And that’s it! Not that restrictive, right? So let’s get into it!

5. Shane Mosley – May 1st, 2010

What Did We Think? – Nothing like starting a list off with something that is going to be controversial, huh? Just hear us out for a second. In our guidelines, we talked about hindsight. That almost certainly applies here. Shane was a fighter who had some serious miles on those tires and was already showing some signs of wear and tear. He had recently been in a tough fight with a way past his prime Ricardo Mayorga, had been on the wrong end of a pretty brutal back and forth fight with Miguel Cotto, and had his lone (recent) big win coming by way of stopping Antonio Margarito – a fighter who had been caught loading his gloves in the pre-fight locker room. Who is going to look good under those circumstances? (Answer: not Antonio Margarito.) But here’s the thing, you know what’s even more damning? Since the Mayweather fight, Shane Mosley hasn’t had a single win against a top fifty type of fighter. In fact, even Mosley’s lone win against the limited Pablo Cesar Cano was a tight one. Mosley is undoubtedly a future hall-of-famer and had an incredible career; but that, ladies and gentlemen, is the resume of a shot fighter.

How Did It Turn Out? – Well, there was about half a round of excitement when Mosley was able to pretty badly shakeup Mayweather with a pair of stiff right hands – but once that brief storm was weathered, it was all Floyd, all the time. It was almost as though the cagey Mosley saw that he’d had his moment, had taken his best shot at winning, and then resigned himself to survival. Mayweather landed sharp lead right hands throughout the remainder of the fight and, from the third round on, was easily able to avoid absolutely everything that Mosley through at him. Did Shane have a memorable moment or two in the bout? Absolutely. But after the second round was he ever a serious threat to Mayweather? Absolutely not. One good moment a competitive fight does not make, and the final scores of 118-110 and 119-109 (twice) accurately reflected that fact.

4. Carlos Baldomir – November 4th, 2006

What Did We Think? – This is another one of those instances of hindsight that we mentioned. Floyd had only been at welterweight for a couple of fights, and Baldomir was the lineal champion at the weight. Couple that with the fact that Baldomir’s chin was as durable as Floyd’s hands were brittle, and there were plenty of people who talked themselves into the idea of this fight at least having some hope of being competitive. However, if you were to look back at Baldomir’s record now, you would notice that his two high-profile wins coming into the fight were against an already severely faded Arturo Gatti, and the always inconsistent Zab Judah. Hardly a resume that inspires fear. Additionally, Floyd was so much fresher, faster, and so much more of a fighter than the game but limited Baldomir, that in hindsight it is difficult to see how anybody expected anything but an utter domination.

How Did It Turn Out? – Floyd pitched a complete shutout. Only one judge even gave “Tata” Baldomir a round, and Mayweather was able to come away with an extremely one-sided unanimous decision win. Baldomir never stopped trying, and was never really in danger of being stopped, but he was also never in the fight. Floyd’s incredible advantage in speed had him buzzing around the Argentiniant, landing in repeated combinations, and leaving Baldomir looking utterly out of his depth. Baldomir was always more of a sturdy journeyman than a potential long-term champion and Floyd exposed that for the world to see. Looking back at how things turned out, Mayweather choosing to fight the recently vanquished Judah instead of Baldomir before this fight took place (something that the boxing public was none-too-impressed with at the time) now seems very defensible.

3. Robert Guerrero – May 4th, 2014

What Did We Think? – Even with Mayweather coming off a prison sentence and, as such, a long time away from the sport, people weren’t exactly jumping over the moon about the choice of Robert Guerrero as a return opponent. Floyd, at the time, threatened instead a possible fight with Devon Alexander to help create some lowered expectations and softball Guerrero in a bit (an opponent that, in retrospect, doesn’t really seem any worse), but ultimately went with the spirited fighter from Gilroy, CA. Problem was that Guerrero hadn’t been at welterweight very long and had his biggest win coming against none other than Andre Berto himself – a fighter who was even then already showing signs of being more of an entertaining gatekeeper than a world beater. Nobody really gave “Ghost” Guerrero a chance to pull off an upset, but with a heartfelt story, a penchant for fun fights, and an eccentric father slash trainer in his corner, fans at least tried to talk themselves into the idea that perhaps Guerrero could at least provide an entertaining buildup to the fight and make-up for what he lacked in talent with pure effort in the ring.

How Did It Turn Out? – Floyd showed about half a round of ring rust (if that), and then quickly picked up where he had left off before his time away from boxing. He dominated almost every single minute of the fight, landing on Guerrero seemingly at will and making Guerrero look slow and clumsy whenever he tried to mount an offense. Not only was the fight one-sided, but it was also unusually boring for a bout featuring Robert Guerrero; a sure sign that Floyd is having his way with an opponent. Looking back on the fight now, the three judges’ scores of 117-111 in favor of Mayweather seem shockingly generous.

2. Henry Bruseles – January 22nd, 2005

What Did We Think? – Coming into the fight, everybody more or less knew what we were seeing. Floyd Mayweather was picking an opponent who he could not only beat, but also look good against so that he could stay unbeaten and showcases his marketability while waiting for a big pay-per-view fight, preferably against blood and guts warrior Arutro Gatti. Interestingly enough, while it was the Gatti fight that probably ushered in the era of Floyd Mayweather as the pay-per-view box office star, it was perhaps this fight against Henry Bruseles where we first got a look at the careful “risk versus reward” calculating Mayweather that has defined long periods of his reign at the top of the sport. For his part, Bruseles had a spotty record against more down than up types of competition, and following the Mayweather fight, never seriously factored into a meaningful title conversation again. This one was never going to be pretty.

How Did It Turn Out? – Exactly as everybody involved (aside from, perhaps, the Bruseles camp) had planned. Floyd got his showcase, overwhelming Bruseles from the opening bell before stopping him at the end of the eighth round. Perhaps most importantly, throughout the fight Floyd looked durable at 140, something that had been questioned after he’d been badly hurt by “Chop Chop” Corley in his first bout at the new weight. He also looked entertaining enough that fans bought in on the idea of the big event he so desperately craved against Gatti (which came shortly after at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City). Bruseles, meanwhile, was beaten badly enough that he went back to the drawing board to try and rebuild against a series even more overmatched opponents back in his native Puerto Rico, before getting beaten by then rising prospect Mike Jones, and hanging the gloves up for good.

1. Sharmba Mitchell – November 19th, 2005

What Did We Think? – Even at the time, this was a fight that had mismatch written all over it. Though, ironically, Sharmba Mitchell probably had one of the best careers and had some of the most talent of any of the fighters on this list. Mitchell had been a long-reigning and highly regarded champion, with his only losses at the time coming against the hard hitting future hall of famer, Kostya Tszyu. The problem was one of age as well as wear and tear; Mitchell was already thirty-five years old and already had over sixty fights to his name. Floyd was fresh off his domination of Gatti, and looking to make a splash up at a hundred and forty-seven pounds with a flashy knockout on a nice prime spot on HBO. In short, Floyd was on his way up, while Mitchell was on his way down. And fast. There were definitely some grumbles about the amount of money that Floyd would be making to almost certainly blast a fighter out of the water who had already been pretty badly knocked around in a recent bout (a third round knockout at the hands of Tszyu). If you’re looking for another example of Floyd coming off a big win with a probable walk through the park to equate to the situation that is unfolding now, you can look no further. You’ve found it.

How Did It Go? – Even worse than expected. From the very opening bell, Mitchell had the look of a wide-eyed deer who saw the lights of a semi-truck bearing down on it with Mayweather laughing merrily behind the wheel. Floyd was not only faster than Mitchell (a bad sign for a fighter who had built a career off being quicker and slicker than his opponents) but also showed he was able to hurt him from the very opening bell. The fight somehow lasted into the sixth round, but Sharmba Mitchell spent almost all of those rounds desperately backing up, flinging out a jab a wild jab, and wobbling all over the ring as he was repeatedly rocked by the fresher and more talented Mayweather. Mitchell was never really in the fight – and, in fact, was probably fortunate that he was not more seriously hurt before things were brought to a halt. Mitchell wisely hung it up not long after the fight, with his final loss coming by way of a knockout at the hands of Paul “The Punisher” Williams.

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