When Floyd Mayweather was asked to name his top five boxers of all time, he did not hesitate to include himself among the greats.
The host — rapper and podcaster Fat Joe — nodded along approvingly before Mayweather had even finished his list, though few would argue against the decision. Mayweather remains one of the defining fighters of the 21st century and one of the rare modern champions to retire on top, closing his career at 50-0 with landmark victories over Manny Pacquiao, Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton.
The remaining four names on Mayweather’s list span boxing’s golden eras of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, a period when the sport flourished from heavyweight down to the lighter divisions. In the clip, shared by The Sweet Science Lab, Mayweather began his selections with one of the finest defensive fighters the sport has ever known.
“We gotta go Pernell Whitaker.”
Known as ‘Sweet Pea’, Whitaker was a defensive virtuoso and a 1984 Olympic gold medallist whose mastery of distance, timing and footwork set a benchmark for generations that followed. After suffering a controversial loss to José Luis Ramírez in Paris in 1988, Whitaker went on a decade-long unbeaten run, capturing world titles at lightweight, super-lightweight and welterweight. His 1993 draw with Julio César Chávez — widely viewed as a robbery — remains one of boxing’s most debated decisions and a defining moment of the era.
Mayweather’s next selections stretched from the lighter weights to heavyweight royalty.
“I’m gonna go Roberto Duran. If we gonna go heavyweights I gotta go Larry Holmes, because Larry Holmes beat everybody in his era. When Larry Holmes got beat by Mike Tyson, he got beat by a young, hungry champion — and he came out of retirement and got beat by Tyson.”
Durán, the ferocious Panamanian nicknamed ‘Hands of Stone’, is regarded as one of the greatest lightweights in history and one of boxing’s most complete fighters, winning world titles from lightweight to middleweight and famously dethroning Sugar Ray Leonard in Montreal in 1980. Holmes, meanwhile, ruled the heavyweight division for seven years, making 20 successful title defences and defeating the likes of Ken Norton, Earnie Shavers and Gerry Cooney during one of the most competitive eras in heavyweight history.
Mayweather’s final pick was perhaps the most intriguing — and the least commonly mentioned in all-time debates.
“Aaron Pryor.”
‘The Hawk’ was a ferocious, relentless force at super-lightweight, best remembered for his two brutal victories over Alexis Argüello in the early 1980s. Pryor’s speed, stamina and aggression made him one of the most feared fighters of his generation, and although his career was later clouded by controversy, his peak remains among the most destructive the division has ever seen.
Mayweather’s list blends self-belief with reverence for boxing history — a reminder that while eras change, greatness leaves a trail that future champions can never escape.
