Muhammad Ali to Floyd Mayweather: 'Don't you forget, I am the greatest'

theGRIO REPORT - Muhammad Ali seems to have finally responded to Floyd Mayweather's claim that the undefeated fighter is "better" than "The Greatest." And all it took was one tweet...

Apr 28, 2015

Muhammad Ali seems to have finally responded to Floyd Mayweather’s claim that the undefeated fighter is “better” than “The Greatest.”

And all it took was one tweet:

Mayweather is preparing for the biggest fight in boxing since Mike Tyson faced Lennox Lewis back in 2001. He will face Manny Pacquiao on Saturday in Las Vegas.

Mayweather revealed the “better than Ali” boast to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith earlier this month:

“No one can ever brainwash me to make me believe that Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali was better than me,” Mayweather told Smith. “No one could ever brainwash me and tell me that. But, one thing I will do, I’m going to take my hat off to them and respect those guys — because those are the guys that paved the way for me to be where I’m at today.

“You don’t believe that Muhammad Ali is better than you?” Smith asked Mayweather in disbelief.

“How?” Mayweather scoffed. “He only fought in one weight class. Leon Spinks beat him when he had seven fights. They’ll never put a fighter in there with Floyd Mayweather with seven fights.”

Spinks beat Ali in 1978, a seismic shock to the boxing world at the time. Mayweather’s right — it was only Spinks’ eighth professional bout. Ali was also very much past his prime and would only fight three more times before retiring. (Ali did avenge the loss later that same year.)

Mayweather also took aim at Ali’s famous knockout victory over George Foreman to win the heavyweight championship in 1974. The “Rumble in the Jungle” is hailed as one of Ali’s greatest victories.

Mayweather’s not buying it.

“So you gon’ 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 then he go down and quit. And [Ali] want to be glorified for that? Absolutely not. Not me.”

Ironically, George Foreman is on Team Mayweather.

The former heavyweight champion told TMZ that Mayweather was “pound for pound” better than him and Ali “ever were.”

We’re still going with Ali, though.

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