Run Floyd Run!!!

By Martin Wade (May 3, 2007) Doghouse Boxing “I found out personally what fantastic foot and hand speed Mayweather has. You have to be in there with him to really appreciate his skill.” - Carlos Baldomir The day is upon us and Floyd Mayweather jr.’s way of “doing business” will now be under the scrutiny of a mainstream audience. Reporters ask him the same question in 3 different ways and detractors sharpen their shanks at the hint of a possible Roy Jones moment. HBO in conjunction with Golden Boy did their part in magnifying one of the more polarizing images in recent sports memory. Oscar De La Hoya will provide the final operative to the “Floyd Rules” by utilizing his considerable height and weight to situate the physical genius into primal crawlspaces-with only one way out. The “Pretty Boy” who boasts of 37 victims, he who was buzzed by DeMarcus Corley and dropped by Zab Judah will be as he likes to often say “put on blast”. What will he do with the world watching? What will he do in front of a mainstream audience medicated on MMA, reality TV and youtube? What will Floyd Mayweather do with an opponent who can apply pressure flavored with intelligence and real junior middleweight power? Will he (gulp) turn tail and run? Running in Boxing Running in boxing does not take on the literal meaning as it is understood by non aficionados. In boxing, when a fighter is blessed with lightening reflexes of hand and foot he often chooses to use them with lethal results. Many “armchair boxing experts” accused Mayweather of running from Carlos Baldomir even at the risk of sounding stupid. Even my girlfriend seethed at Floyd’s nimble escapes and called him a “pussy”.Don’t believe it was a dumb thing to say? Then answer this, if your best friend stopped by looking like Baldomir after Floyd chewed him up and said to you “I tried to fight but the other guy ran” what would you think?. I’ll tell you what you’d think; you’d think to yourself (while giving him that uh huh look) “yeah he ran all over your face”. In other words, speed kills and Floyd Mayweather has plenty of it. Whenever I watch a fight where a speed oriented fighter employs his natural gifts to victory the fallen opponent (to save face) always resorts to use of the “r” word-“he ran”. Now I won’t even get into the “cultural” undertones of the use of the word “running” pertaining to athletic African American fighters. We all tend to rely on “cultural cliff notes” regarding styles in boxing and for that there is no fault. Yet I will focus on what the strategy of using ones mobility will mean to Floyd Mayweather in the biggest fight of his life. Running and Responsibility Joe Louis once famously said “you can run but you can’t hide” and his career as one of boxings great finishers proved this out. All of the great stalkers and pressure fighters were that way, virtually impossible to avoid, they truly made the ring the loneliest place in the world. They understood the onus was upon them to catch their prey and finish them. Now we have observers of the sport that place the responsibility on the “prey” to make a fight. This removes responsibility from Carlos Baldomir who knew what he had to do and places it on Floyd Mayweather who pretty much fulfilled his objective. I would also argue that we as observers of the “sweet science” got it twisted when we bestow the title “natural” fighter on a guy that takes several shots to give one. Survival is our most basic instinct and evading a punch is more natural than absorbing one. Juan Diaz’s pursuit of Popo Frietas was a product of his mental make up and until he faces someone who can “naturally” avoid him (while scoring) he will wear opponents down “mentally”. If I threw something at your head, hopefully you’d have the wherewithal to move out of the way. If avoiding punishment were the stuff of “track stars” why do you find equipment in every boxing gym that improves head movement? Why do fighters wear ankle weights? jump rope? And simulate ducking punches when doing pad workouts? Oscar De La Hoya is nobody’s fool, he understands he’s facing one of the most elusive fighters in boxing history (22% of punches actually touch Floyd) and he’s doing something about it. Freddy Roach’s prescription is speed, the kind of speed that may never equal Mayweather yet allow Oscar to practice good timing. I love this professional approach from Oscar because he truly wants to win. What I don’t love is the ominous cloud of mainstream expectation. As a hardcore fan I like that they (the casual) are coming to the party but I resent the hint of our greatest artiste feeling obliged to brawl to keep them. Allow each man be himself All this talk of size leads one to believe that Oscar is going to come in and get all Bernard Hopkins with Floyd. Not that he hasn’t consulted with Bernard on Fritzie Zivics book of ethics on “the finer manly arts”. But that was never the Golden Boy’s style and this fight is too big to try a weapon untested. Oscar is an extremely good rhythmic boxer with a murderous left hook who can counter punch at a high level. Floyd, well what can you say- he can box his ass off, punch in combination, has an underrated body attack and a defense that in the words of iron mike is impregnable. He shouldn’t be penalized by fight fans for possessing the weapon of mobility, if you had a Porsche you wouldn’t leave it in the garage. At 130 pounds Floyd’s mobility allowed him to dance circles around opponents like a sadistic kid brother pelting you with rubber bands. 150 pounds is another matter and the truth is we won’t know if Floyd can “run” as well until Saturday Night. If he can I encourage him to do so, that way we know both combatants are exhausting every weapon at their disposal. This way “if” Oscar catches him there will be no excuses (I fought the wrong fight) and the victory will be sweeter than if “the little fella” stood toe to toe to please fans that will be gone on May 6th. Let each man be himself and win on the merit of who he is not who Diddy and ESPN want them to be. So allow me to be the first to say to Floyd Mayweather …Run Floyd Run! My Prediction Rounds 1-8 will be riveting stuff, Oscar will press and learn early that “lil Floyd” aint so little. At 30 Floyd may have grown into his big boy britches, just look at his chest and shoulders. Floyd will bust him up and force Oscar to box, that’s when “plan B” actually starts to work, I would argue that “plan B” should have been “plan A”. Oscar takes what Manny Steward loves to rave about “a tiny step back” and fights “tall”. He’s able to thump the shorter Mayweather with hard jabs and even lands the vaunted left hook to the body. That will be his downfall because it gets Oscar to smell blood and he gets greedy. Oscar starts chasing again allowing Floyd to distance himself on the scorecards by potshotting and putting the stick to Oscar’s gut. Floyd wins by UD 8-4 rounds. The fans will boo and Oscar will say…..he ran. I hope the fight will still be entertaining even if Floyd runs...