If Floyd punches so soft, why the distance?

1. Floyd's hands have been an issue for the past odd some years, still, he doesn't punch as "soft" as a guy like Paulie. Moreover, Floyd has a low punch output but he's also very sharp, accurate and fast with his punches and that's enough to make his opponent respect his power. Also, Floyd fights at such a high level where it's tough to score many KO's, so this adds to the illusion that Mayweather doesn't punch as hard. If he was fighting Golovkin opposition he'd be racking up more KO victories I assure you. 2. Simply bum-rushing Floyd will either get you countered to death while falling into his gameplan, and/or you will gas out. It's not sustainable, even Maidana couldn't work that strategy past the 5th round. Not many guys will have great success in boxing with such a gameplan, especially against a fighter of Mayweather's caliber. Porter VS Brook was a recent example of what happens when a guy simply decides to rush a better boxer.

Floyd may not have one punch type power, but he does have a lot of sting to his punches. His opponents feel them and they get buzzed by good shots.

Looking at Floyd's career over the years, the only opponents to smother him with absolutely no respect for his power was Castillo in the first fight and Maidana in the first fight. Shouldn't all his fights look like Paulie Vs Porter, someone coming forward with no hesitation? I understand the punches that hurt are those ones that you don't see, so that is a argument as into why people don't rush him, but when someones a pillow puff puncher IE Paulie, it doesn't matter. I mean, guys are staying away from him like they are trying not to be outboxed, unless you are Lara your not out-boxing Mayweather. Did you ever notice the disparity in paychecks? Think about that for a second. People sometimes do anything for money.

Anyone who has to ask this has never boxed. Floyd is an average puncher at welterweight, was decent at the lower weights but not great. The thing is he just isn't a killer instinct guy so he doesn't knock people out at welter. But he isn't a bad puncher by any means. Trust me though, some people here must have no real experience in the ring. If you get countered even Paulie will make you respect him to some extent - he won't knock you out but it will hurt and make you think. Seriously have people here never boxed? You can't just walk into punches that easily. You don't need to be a monster puncher to get respect from most guys.

:lol1: Why the distance? Why the distance?? Because Floyd CREATES the distance. Nobody can smother him because he's one of the most elusive fighters in all boxing. I wonder if the OP has ever seen a Floyd Mayweather fight. :rolleyes:

I think I am one of the few guys on this site who has actually been a ring and fought in an organized, semi pro level-- Most fighters don't get dropped by punches they see. The guys with pop can do it--but most professionals can roll with it or your body braces itself. People are mostly hurt by punches they don't see. Floyd doesn't have much Pop anymore but he does throw tricky shots that flash and freeze guys. Maidana is awkward and expected to Floyds shots, hence he was never hurt. And In turn floyd was buzzed a few times because of the awkwardness

i think it comes from when he hits his opponents nothing happens. as opposed to when a guy like golovking hits his opponent they fall down, get wobbly, get ko'd etc... floyd's landing flush shots and yet nothing. that means he has no power. technically he throws correct punches but he just has no power. did you see the gatti fight? gatti the zombie was standing there for 6 rounds not even moving just taking flush punches over and over and nothing was happening. any boxer with even a little power takes him out. even baldomir and gomez took gatti out brutally. floyd's lack of power hurts his self esteem and makes him avoid dangerous fighters that he knows he can't discourage. fair points. but i think it may also have to do with moving past his prime weight class in terms of power. i feel he had much better power earlier, like pacquiao.

Because guys who have just chased him around ignoring his punches looking for a stoppage and neglecting boxing have lost like Maidana did. Floyd is very good at making people miss and getting out of bad situations and scoring points, no doubt about that.

where does this "mayweather has no power" come from anyways.. i see snaps and pops and good leverage and good overall transfer of weight in his punches. lacking KO=/= no power... i think it comes from when he hits his opponents nothing happens. as opposed to when a guy like golovking hits his opponent they fall down, get wobbly, get ko'd etc... floyd's landing flush shots and yet nothing. that means he has no power. technically he throws correct punches but he just has no power. did you see the gatti fight? gatti the zombie was standing there for 6 rounds not even moving just taking flush punches over and over and nothing was happening. any boxer with even a little power takes him out. even baldomir and gomez took gatti out brutally. floyd's lack of power hurts his self esteem and makes him avoid dangerous fighters that he knows he can't discourage.

Looking at Floyd's career over the years, the only opponents to smother him with absolutely no respect for his power was Castillo in the first fight and Maidana in the first fight. Shouldn't all his fights look like Paulie Vs Porter, someone coming forward with no hesitation? I understand the punches that hurt are those ones that you don't see, so that is a argument as into why people don't rush him, but when someones a pillow puff puncher IE Paulie, it doesn't matter. I mean, guys are staying away from him like they are trying not to be outboxed, unless you are Lara your not out-boxing Mayweather. Those weren't the only two fighters to smother him, Hatton did it before the ref got handsy and made the first 5 rounds pretty close, Oscar had some success on the inside but couldn't maintain it, it was clear he didn't give a **** about Mayweather's power at all. Issue is, Mayweather hasn't exactly faced a bunch of top level offensive fighters, wheres the prime cotto or marg? prime pacquiao? they just arent there. The other point is that, although Mayweather is feather fisted his shots are accurate enough and well timed enough to keep opponents off balance.

Looking at Floyd's career over the years, the only opponents to smother him with absolutely no respect for his power was Castillo in the first fight and Maidana in the first fight. Shouldn't all his fights look like Paulie Vs Porter, someone coming forward with no hesitation? I understand the punches that hurt are those ones that you don't see, so that is a argument as into why people don't rush him, but when someones a pillow puff puncher IE Paulie, it doesn't matter. I mean, guys are staying away from him like they are trying not to be outboxed, unless you are Lara your not out-boxing Mayweather. :pat: OK... lets see... Mayweather's magic is limited to boxing in Vegas, against the boxers he hand picks, in a network and promoters he's partner's with, in the ring he wants, with the judges in his pocket, the ref. watching his back and doing half the fight for him and even chosing his opponents gloves so as to make sure he's not even risking a puncher's chance. Floyd only has to clinch, pitty pat a bit (which will all be considered boxing masterclass blows) and he wins by points. That's all there is to Floyd's mad boxing skills. FerFAL

where does this "mayweather has no power" come from anyways.. i see snaps and pops and good leverage and good overall transfer of weight in his punches. lacking KO=/= no power...

Why the distance between him and Pacquiao?

Floyd is not exactly a hard hitter, Pacquiao is a superior puncher. Although Mayweather definitely has respectable power otherwise his opponents would walk through his punches.

I think its about risk and reward. With Paulie you risk getting hit with a love tap and your reward is a pretty good chance of landing your own shot, becuase his defence is sh*t. So you will probably keep attacking With Floyd you risk getting hit with a decent shot and your reward is having very little chance of landing a shot, because his defense is good. Which makes you think twice about attacking.

because he only picks opponents who will stay at a certain distance. a couple opponents like castillo and maidana he miscalculated on. he thought he could use his feet to stay away but he overestimated his own skills.

Theres one fighter i would have liked to see him fight was Margarito. I don't think he would of cared how much he was going to get countered by Floyd he would have still came forward. It'd be interesting to see how Floyd would have adjusted.

Mayweather has respectable power. More importantly he has great accuracy and timing which clearly keeps opponents honest. You mix in the skill level, countering and defensive ability and you have a guy that is not going to be bullied.

Floyd does have soft punches. But the thing is he is very hard to hit and through out the fight those soft punches will sting and add up. But yeah he has very little power but he is very accurate and very hard to hit so it makes opponents think twice about coming in.

he had power at a point, and he still does not like he hits like bradley or paulie, he just doesnt get behind them 100% and throw haymakers, just look at canelos and cottos face and say he doesnt hit hard