Agree or disagree?

Agreed. But as you stated they manifest their super confidence in different ways.

Smitty this is a very interesting question. Mayweather is just a jerk but he has backed it up by winning his fights. There have been many fighters that were great that didn't lack in confidence but at the same time humble like Marciano, Louis, Hagler, etc. and others like Ali who used his showmanship mostly as a gate attraction and was at times down right funny something that Mayweather certainly isn't. Marciano said that he feared nobody in the ring and this confidence was a major reason he was undefeated, yet he was a very humble man because that was how he was brought up. Ali used his showmanship sometimes to beat opponents mentally before fighting him. Obviously neither of these great fighters lacked in confidence. Arrogance is not classy and I would prefer to see a fighter who knows he is great without all the name calling and insulting remarks.

Disagree. Many of the best athletes are humble. Confidence does not equal arrogance. De La Hoya has been graceful in wins and losses even when he felt he won like in De La Hoya Mosley II which many, including me, had him way ahead. In football there are a lot of cocky receivers but then there are guys like Marvin Harrison. Ladamian Tomlinson, Lebron James and many others are excellent athletes without the arrogance. Terry Bradshaw went into every Superbowl afraid he was going to make a mistake and lose, (he lacked confidence but became great) -- andl he won all four that he played in and had an amazing career. The only reason you don't hear this more often is because the loud mouth "cocky" athletes are hogging the spotlight. Who would you rather have on your team Terrell Owens or Marvin Harrison?

"So called arrogance?" Mayweather IS an arrogant jerk! Where does he get off disrespecting a great champion like Sugar Ray Leonard? Who the hell has he beaten to clown Ray Leonard? It's one thing to have strong self confidence and believe your good at what you do, but when you start running your mouth and dissing the greats, that turns to arrogance in my book. He actually had the nerve to tell a great champ like Leonard this, "if you were fighting today, you wouldn't even be ranked in the top ten". Is this guy out of his mind? Pancho's answer sumed it up well too me, there is a major difference between confidence and arrogance. Floyd hasn't even fought the best fighters in his own division, while Leonard has beaten some of the best in HISTORY! And just as Pancho said, guys like Michael Jordan, Walter Payton, and Jerry Rice proves that you don't have to be arrogant for you to be great! That's ok though, cause Mayweather will have all that arrogance knocked out of him come May 5th!

Disagree... arrogance is not because they are good or exceptional..all it means is someone has not stepped up and smacked em down yet. Self confidence is not arrogance or *********. If you know what you can do and you state it that way exactly most people misread it as cocky or arrogant.

If You are cocky & arrogant then the

people will pay good money to see

you get a good a-- whipping, bringing

in more revenue. A good athlete doen't

have to be cocky/arrogant people come

to see him because he is damn good at

what he does ( Michael Jordan, etc. )

I couldn't disagree with you more. Having confidence and being arrogant are totally different. Micheal Jordan and Jerry Rice, two men who are seen as the greatest ever in their sports, were never seen as arrogant, but both were extremely confident in their abilities and they performed at the highest level of their sports. The great Walter Payton, who i had the pleasure of meeting in person years ago, was as humble as they come. And he was one of the greatest backs of all time. He was very confident, but never arrogant. I believe all great athletes have great confidence, but all of them are certainly not arrogant.

I agree, but only to an extent. Sometimes there is also the attempt by a braggart to shore up his own confidence, although I doubt Floyd lacks confidence. I'm not sure Floyd's as comfortable as his bravado leads one to believe. If there is a slip in confidence, loud talk is sometimes used to hide uncertainty or doubt. May 5th and we will know.

completely disagree. SOME great athletes are arrogant (i.e. Tiger Woods), but not all. Michael Jordan was not arrogant, and is aguably the best basketball player ever. confident, yes, but not cocky or arrogant.

Floyd Patterson and Joe Louis were great, but reserved for the most part. I admire the ability with the class more myself. Just like I don't care how many yards Eric dickerson ran for, Walter Peyton was still the man and will be remembered for his ability and his class.

all athletes are cocky, they better be.. some are just more vocal than others. some voice what other athletes are thinking. especiall in contact sports suchs as boxing and football. i boxed for 13 years as an amatuer, and every time i stepped in the ring i thought i was the best mf in the world, when i didn't think that i got my *** beat. my record was 117 -21..:)