When measuring greatness, Mayweather still lightweight

It’s the same with boxing. Separating the best names in history has forever been about more than records and honors. It’s about fighting style and fan appeal and which opponents you agree to meet and when. It’s about the level of passion you can create, the amount of electricity you can produce among those who watch.

It’s about an incredible scene such as the weigh-in Friday for tonight’s Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Ricky Hatton WBC welterweight title fight at the MGM Grand Garden, a nearly indescribable moment that proved Mayweather still has miles to travel before he comes close to claiming the level of magnitude his camp insists he already owns in the sport.

Statistics beside a fighter’s name and the number of belts around his waist are mere fractions of what should be studied when ranking the best. It’s the same in any profession. Roberto Benigni has an Academy Award. Albert Finney doesn’t. Life is baffling that way.

If all factors were created equal when defining champions, the 1978 Washington Bullets would be placed alongside the 1996 Chicago Bulls. And that’s just stupid.

ESPN.com earlier this year rated its 50 best fighters of all time. Mayweather was No. 48, far enough from Sugar Ray Robinson’s top spot to believe any such subjective group couldn’t possibly be that mistaken.

“(Mayweather) is a very good boxer,” said trainer Freddie Roach, who prepared Oscar De La Hoya for his fight against Mayweather in May. “On the other hand, he’s a little boring. He’s great at what he does, but he’s not an all-time great. He’s not even in the top 10. He’s not Sugar Ray Leonard, never mind Sugar Ray Robinson.

“(Mayweather) is in these big mega-fights now because of who’s on the other side. Hatton this time. Oscar (in May).”

It’s an argument that only gained strength Friday. Mayweather’s 38-0 record and six world titles in five weight classes were all drowned out by the joyous (and undoubtedly inebriated) singing voices of thousands of British fans who lined up nearly nine hours (yep, nine) early for the weigh-in. Mayweather stepped on the scale last and left the podium first, unable to put even a dent in the crazed obsession Hatton’s fans possess for their countryman.

There’s an excellent chance that unbelievable setting will prove far more exhilarating than the actual fight, which Mayweather should win against an inspired but less skilled Hatton. Mayweather simply can’t lose, not if he wants to be considered the greatest by anyone beyond his immediate circle.

Roger Mayweather insists his nephew should be labeled history’s finest because while others have equaled the number of titles and weight classes, none did so while remaining unbeaten. Ask yourself, then, what the Patriots of this NFL season would do to those perfect Dolphins of 1972. Thought so.

Mayweather has fought good people. He knocked down Diego Corrales five times. He pounded Arturo Gatti. He won decisions against Jose Luis Castillo (twice), Zab Judah and De La Hoya. He gets a 43-0 Hatton tonight.

But others remain. For starters, Miguel Cotto. Shane Mosley. Mayweather has earned the right to be match careful, but anyone claiming to be the greatest shouldn’t end his career with any question as to whom he fought.

“I don’t have to brag or boast about my credentials,” Mayweather said. “It speaks for itself. I have beaten everybody they put in front of me.

“You can get a pack of fireworks with 100 and if 90 pop and 10 are duds, you’re going to be like, ‘You know what, I’m happy.’ I gave the sport excitement when I fought Gatti. When I fought Corrales.

“To say there has been another fighter better than me? I’m not going to say that. I’m not going to disrespect Muhammad Ali or Sugar Ray Robinson, but in this era, I have accomplished something no other fighter has. I’m just being honest. I just don’t truly think I will be given the credit I deserve until I retire.”

Maybe then, he will still stand with a perfect record and will have left no legitimate opponent waiting and be a serious part of the discussion for greatest in history. But anyone can make a list, and not just anyone can generate the kind of fervor felt at that weigh-in.

It might be the only thing Hatton has over Mayweather, but it’s just as important as statistics and belts when ranking the best names boxing has produced.

An unforgettable scene, that weigh-in. Electric.

Ed Graney can be reached at 383-4618 or egraney@reviewjournal.com.