Floyd Mayweather thinks he should have won AP Athlete of the Decade over Lakers’ LeBron James

While LeBron James outran Lionel Messi, Usain Bolt and Tom Brady on his way to the AP Male Athlete of the Decade honor, there was one other personality who thought he got snubbed big time. Recently during an appearance on Drink Champs, boxing great Floyd Mayweather made it clear that he should have won it over James easily:

“I love LeBron James, but when we talking about Athlete of the Decade, that’s me,” Mayweather said per Complex. “That’s me. Hands down. We talking about from 1996 to 2020 and I’ve never received Athlete of the Decade.”

Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Mayweather further went on to claim that the lack of big-name sponsors lobbying for him was the major cause for him being overlooked.

“I’m my own boss. No Gatorade behind me, no Sprite behind me, no Nike behind me,” Mayweather said. “You got to realize, these are billion-dollar companies. And we like to call it ‘placement.’ So if they paying—you get what you want if you paying enough. But if we going off just honestly, I’m the Athlete of the Decade. Of the last two decades actually.”

As far as athlete of the decade, Floyd Mayweather says he's a better athlete than Lebron and said corporate sponsors paid for Lebron to get his accolades instead of by merit. pic.twitter.com/qg0ko7t4hJ

— PopGlitz.co (@PopGlitz1) February 16, 2020

Across the past 10 years, James has made 10 All-Star appearances, has been named to the All-NBA team 10 times, and won three NBA titles as well. His dedication and work ethic have cemented him as arguably the most renowned professional athlete of recent times.

In that context, Mayweather's claim might ring a little hollow to basketball fans. They are both undoubtedly great athletes, but James has just as much claim to the top honor as anyone else.