Last week, Floyd Mayweather arrogantly went where no fighter ever should — questioning the legacy of Muhammad Ali.
Mayweather, who squares off against Manny Pacquiao on Saturday, said he had no doubt he was the greatest fighter of all-time — not Ali or Sugar Ray Robinson.
“No one can ever brainwash me to make me believe that Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali was better than me. No one could ever brainwash me and tell me that,” Mayweather told ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith.
Well, it appears Ali got the message.
He might be 73 and so ill from Parkinson’s disease he can barely speak, but the champ — or whoever controls his Twitter account — showed he still has that trademark humor and swagger by posting this on Monday.
There was no direct reference to Mayweather, but it’s a safe bet it was aimed in his direction after Floyd’s flimsy explanation of why he is better than Ali.
"Don't you forget, I am the greatest!" #MuhammadAli pic.twitter.com/HXaTz39RPM
— Muhammad Ali (@MuhammadAli) April 27, 2015
“He only ever fought in one weight class,” said Mayweather, who has won titles in five divisions.
“Leon Spinks beat him when he had seven fights. They’d never put a fighter in there with Floyd Mayweather with seven fights.”
Mayweather also appeared to take issue with Ali’s rope-a-dope strategy being remembered as a brilliant ploy.
“So you gonna tell me that it’s cool to lay on the ropes and take punishment and let a man tire himself out from beating you and then he basically fatigued? You hit him with a few punches and he go down and quit, and you want to be glorified for that? Absolutely not, not me.”
Mayweather has always been ultra-confident and honest when discussing his legacy, but going after legends like Ali isn’t exactly going to endear him to fans ahead of the Pacquiao fight.
But that’s never bothered him either.
