Floyd Mayweather believes he could be dropped into any era and remain undefeated.
That sort of unwavering confidence only comes with an unblemished record, and ‘Money’ Mayweather achieved just that in 2017 when he hung up the gloves having won all 50 of his fights.
Roy Jones Jr recently made headlines when he predicted that Mayweather would have lost had he been around in the eighties, but Thomas Hearns – one quarter of the Four Kings alongside Roberto Duran, Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard – once told the Ring Magazine that he felt Floyd would have fared well.
“I will give credit where credit is due. I can not take anything away from Floyd Mayweather. He is a brilliant fighter in the ring. He feints well, and he punches pretty good. I mean, he’s pretty active while he’s in there.”
“I think that he would do pretty good [against the Four Kings]. He’s got good head movement, and I can’t [pin] him down. I have to give him his props. He could last.”
Having said that, Hearns later said that he would not make it easy for any man – something fans during that golden era witnessed time and again.
“But you know anybody who was in my weight division, you know, I would give them hell. They would have to be really fighting hard and be ready to absorb a lot of punches to beat me. Because, you know, I ain’t going to let anybody just come in and beat me.”
Roberto Duran does not share as high an opinion of Mayweather’s chances back in their day.
