Legendary trainer Emanuel Steward had praise for Floyd Mayweather, but was clear that he did not think he was unbeatable.
‘Money’ Mayweather proved himself to be one of, if not the greatest defensive fighters of all time throughout the course of his exceptional professional career, winning world titles across five weight classes along the way.
The Michigan-native racked up victories over a number of legendary fighters including Oscar De La Hoya, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao to name just a few.
He walked away from the sport months on from his monumental crossover showdown with Conor McGregor back in August of 2017, drawing the curtain on his career with an unblemished record of 50-0 to his name.
One man that knew a thing or two about working alongside some of boxing’s greatest ever fighters is the late great Manny Steward, who trained no less than 41 world champions throughout his coaching career.
Speaking in a resurfaced interview, Steward didn’t hesitate to back his charge Thomas ‘The Hitman’ Hearns to defeat Mayweather in an intriguing fantasy clash between the legendary American pair.
“I have no doubt in my mind, out of all respect to Mayweather for doing what he’s did and what he’s accomplished, that he would never be really a serious threat to me with Thomas Hearns.
“First of all Thomas Hearns is physically so much bigger and the fact that Thomas Hearns never ever had problems with technical boxers. Sugar Ray Leonard, he was never outboxed by Ray Leonard, Wilfred Benitez, the same as Virgil Hill, all the technical boxers were the guys who were the easiest for Tommy to beat because he had such a great left jab himself.”
‘The Hitman’ is also considered to be one of the greatest to have ever graced the sport, becoming the first fighter in boxing history to win world titles across four weight classes. The Georgia-native shared the ring with a number of legendary fighters during his 29-year career, including Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler and Roberto Duran.
Though an intriguing clash, Hearns campaigned as high as cruiserweight and won a belt at light-heavy – a considerable jump from Mayweather’s career highest weight of around 150lbs.
