Floyd Mayweather
Mayweather is convinced he is the greatest boxer in the history of the sport Getty

KEY POINTS

  • Mayweather exchanged words with Sugar Ray Leonard on Instagram recently.
  • "Money" believes he is greater than all the legendary boxers of the past.

Floyd Mayweather has touched upon why he considers himself the best of all time after he chose to exchange words with former three-weight champion Sugar Ray Leonard.

Leonard (36-3-1 record) is highly regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time in what was a 20-year run, but in a recent post of his on Instagram, Mayweather decided to let his own opinion be heard.

"You Sugar and I'm TBE [The Best Ever]," Mayweather's comment on Leonard's post was quoted as saying.

Hall of Famer Leonard responded with a subtle jab at the 50-0 former five-weight champion: "Floyd Mayweather, remember that night when we bumped into each other and you commented that I was the best you've ever seen, so are you changing you mind because you're now retired?"

"You lost your first fight to a lightweight, which was Robert Duran. TBE has never lost. You're Sugar. I'm TBE. Whether a fighter was young or old, in his prime or past his prime, I beat them all. #NoExcuses," Mayweather retorted.

The whole exchange got the combat world debating on who would win in a battle of different eras.

Mayweather is unanimously considered the greatest boxer of his generation. However, comparisons with the legendary boxers of the seventies, eighties and nineties will always remain as there is simply no way to figure out who would win.

However, "Money" believes the fact that he retired unbeaten at the highest level and emerged victorious against a number of world champions puts him at the top of the pack.

"There's only one godfather in boxing and that's Floyd Mayweather," he told FightHype. "Nobody did it stylish like me. Nobody got all my faculties and smart investments.

"I set all these boys up and went for the kill. My thing is this about legendary fighters. My, myself, I'm always going to feel like I'm TBE. How many world champions did Rocky Marciano beat? I'm such a don in the sport. I'm the reason small guys are getting what they're getting."