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MW 12 August 2015

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22 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 12 AUGUST 2015 Sport BOXING FOOTBALL MOTOGP Floyd Mayweather reveals his top five boxers of all time Mayweather picks himself as number one and surprises everybody with Muhammad Ali's placing FLOYD Mayweather has picked his five greatest fighters of all time and has caused fresh con- troversy after leaving heavy- weight great Muhammad Ali down at No 5, with Sugar Ray Robinson not included at all. The American superstar, who is unbeaten in 48 bouts, was asked to compile his own list of the sport's best ever boxers in the wake of picking up an- other 'Fighter of the Year' award from the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame. Unsurprisingly, the 38-year- old with the 'The Best Ever' nickname reserved top spot for himself, but his list has raised a few eyebrows as Ali took the last available spot, while there was no place for the legendary Rob- inson. Rocky Marciano, the man whose 49-0 record Mayweather will attempt to equal when he faces Andre Berto on Septem- ber, was also another notable absentee. Justifying his placing of Ali, Mayweather said on ESPN De- portes: "Ali - only one weight class and really lost to Ken Nor- ton three times. What he did is he stood for a cause in an era when African Americans didn't stand up for their people." Describing the rest of his list, Mayweather said: "(Roberto Du- ran). Came up from lightweight to world champion at 160lbs. Love that guy. A legend. "(Pernell Whitaker). Really, he beat Julio Cesar Chavez (the fight was a controversial draw). And he did beat my uncle Roger Twice. "(Julio Cesar Chavez). Was 79-0 in different weight classes before he lost." But May weather's most glow- ing praise was for himself, de- spite facing recent criticism for his decision to face Berto in- stead of the likes of Amir Khan and Keith Thurman. "He's beat more world cham- pions than any other fighter in a shorter time and less fights than any other fighter," he said. "Landed punches at the high- est percentage and took less punishment. He's been world champion 18 years in five dif- ferent weight divisions." Floyd's top five 1 Floyd Mayweather W 48 L 0 2 Roberto Duran W 103 L 16 3 Pernell Whitaker W 40 L 4 D 1 4 Julio Cesar Chavez W 107 L 6 D 2 5 Muhammad Ali W 56 L 5 He's beat more world champions than any other fighter in less time and fewer fights than any other fighter - Floyd Mayweather on Floyd Mayweather Stoke sign Xherdan Shaqiri Stoke have announced the completion of a club-record £12million deal for midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri THE 23-year-old joins from In- ter Milan on a five-year deal just weeks after the move appeared to be dead. The Switzerland winger could make his Stoke debut in Satur- day's Barclays Premier League trip to Tottenham. Manager Mark Hughes told the club's official website: "He's a dynamic and explosive player who will bring something differ- ent to the group and at the age of 23 he still has a great deal of potential. "In the chats I've had with him it's obvious that he's excited about playing in the Premier League and showing what he's capable of." A switch appeared to be off in July when the club's deadline for the move to be completed was not met and Hughes confirmed they had "stepped aside" to focus on other targets. Shaqiri has scored 17 goals in 46 appearances for Switzerland and helped Bayern Munich win the Champions League in 2013. Chief Executive Tony Scholes added: "It's no secret that we have been pursuing Xherdan for some time now and we are delighted to have finally secured his signature. "He's an exciting young player who is really looking forward to playing in the Premier League hav- ing played at the very highest level in Germany with Bayern Munich and in Italy with Inter. "Xherdan will be a fantastic addi- tion to our squad and adds to the attacking options at the manager's disposal." Xherdan Shaqiri Rossi vows to improve qualifying pace VALENTINO Rossi has pledged to "work hard" with Yamaha to improve his qualifying perform- ances, after having to pull off another race-day recovery at the Indianapolis Grand Prix. Rossi could only manage a place on the third row of the grid at the Brickyard, three tenths of a second and five positions behind factory Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo. Although the Italian made up lost ground in the race to follow Marc Márquez and Lorenzo home in third place, he says it is vital that he gets on top of his one-lap pace. "I'm happy at the end because I had a good pace," said Rossi, whose championship advantage over Lorenzo was trimmed from 13 points to nine. "The problem is the qualifying; we struggle too much in the prac- tice and we arrive with a little bit too much of a delay before finding a good setting. "Starting from the third row is always difficult. "I started well and I was fast on the first laps so, if I would have been able to start from the second row, I would have been able to stay with Marc and Jorge until the end of the race. "We have to work hard on this, starting from Brno." Valentino Rossi

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