Floyd Mayweather has claimed he is a better fighter than Muhammad Ali . Mayweather , who takes on Manny Pacquiao in their $ 300 million mega-fight on May 2 , is widely considered to be the current pound-for-pound No 1 . But he believes there has never been a better boxer in the history of the sport . Floyd Mayweather trains ahead of his fight against Manny Pacquiao next weekend . In an interview ESPN 's Stephen A. Smith , Mayweather said : '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 . '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 . ' When asked if he truly believed he was better than Ali , Mayweather recalled the heavyweight losing his world titles to Leon Spinks in 1978 . Muhammad Ali suffered a shock defeat to Leon Spinks who had only fought seven times previously . The inexperienced Spinks celebrates his surprise 15 round split decision victory over Ali . 'Leon Spinks only had seven fights , ' he said . 'Never put a fighter in there with Floyd Mayweather with seven fights . ' Mayweather also criticised the 'rope-a-dope ' tactics adopted by Ali against George Foreman in their Rumble in the Jungle . 'Are you going to tell me its cool to lay on the ropes and take punishment and let a man tire himself out from beating you , ' he said . 'He 's basically fatigued - you hit him with a few punches and he goes down and quits . You want to be glorified for that ? Absolutely not , not me . ' Ali adopted his famous 'rope-a-dope ' tactics before stopping George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle .
dusty Mayweather is widely considered the best boxer in the world . But he believes he is better than heavyweight legend Muhammad Ali . Mayweather did admit that he loves both Ali and dusty Ray ##ao . He takes on dusty Pacquiao on May 2 in their $ 300 m mini - fight . Mayweather - this weigh - in would be first ever with paid - for tickets .