Teddy Atlas IMAGO / Christian Schroedter

Teddy Atlas Lists Boxers With Better Footwork Than Floyd Mayweather

Originally posted on KO on SI | By Grant Young | Last updated Aug 18, 2025 7:00 PM ET

While Floyd "Money" Mayweather Jr. was perhaps best known for his elite defense, much of this defensive aptitude was owed to his having some of the greatest footwork ever seen in the sweet science.

There's no way a fighter could compile a perfect 50-0 professional record, which includes 15 major world championships across five different weight classes, without being extremely difficult to hit. And Mayweather exemplified this better than just about every other fighter.

However, when it comes to footwork, while Mayweather is near the top of the list, boxing icon Teddy Atlas doesn't include him in the top five.

Teddy Atlas Claims Mayweather's Footwork is Sixth Best in Boxing History

On his acclaimed 'The Fight with Teddy Atlas' YouTube channel on August 18, the former trainer turned analyst did a ranking of the top 10 boxers with the best footwork of all time. Mayweather earned the No. 6 spot on his list.

When speaking about Mayweather, Atlas said, "A big part of [Mayweather's defensive success was] legs. Great counterpuncher, he KO'ed tough-chinned fighters like Ricky Hatton. But he did it because his legs set up those counters. Floyd was smooth and special."

However, there were various other boxers who Atlas clearly thought were more smooth and special when it came to footwork. Above Mayweather on Atlas' list are Joe Louis (who came in at No. 5), Sugar Ray Robinson (who was No. 4), Vasiliy Lomachenko (No. 3), Muhammad Ali (No. 2), and Willie Pep (No. 1).

Sugar Ray Robinson, Floyd Mayweather Question Sparks Beef

It's interesting to hear Atlas rank Sugar Ray Robinson higher than Mayweather, if only because Roy Jones Jr.'s comments about how Sugar Ray Robinson would have beaten Mayweather if the two had fought in their primes has sparked a beef between Jones Jr. and Mayweather.

Jones Jr. said, "People always say, 'Floyd would have beat Sugar'. No, baby, Floyd is not nearly as mean as Sugar was," Jones Jr. said. "Sugar is a dog. Just because his name is Sugar don't mean nothing. Sugar is a dog. People don't give him enough credit for that.

"For me, I like Floyd, and Floyd was cool. But it's like, it's gonna be hard for me to go take it and beat Sugar. They'd have to do something different, that's for sure. If [Floyd] did something different, he probably has a chance. Just the way he's been doing with normal people, what I saw in his prime, that's not gonna work with Sugar. Sugar got a third element [heart] right there," he added.

After Mayweather responded to this by watching videos of Roy Jones Jr. getting knocked out on his Instagram story, Jones Jr. went on a verbal tirade against him in an interview with Ring Magazine.

While Sugar Ray Robinson has mostly stayed out of this, Atlas offered his opinion on the matter, at least as it pertains to footwork.

This article first appeared on KO on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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