why was he never a true lhw? he out grew middle and super middle easily and was far more muscular than robinson. robinson was a welter who turned to middle pretty late in his career. after a 100 fights in fact. roy jones spent much of his championship at lhw and still only manages wins over shot guys like hill, mediocre talent like griffin and a close win over tarver.
i'm not dissing rjj, i loved him while he lasted and the fact that he could even hang with a heavy is good stuff but let's not kid ourselves, the guy wasted his prime fighting no bodies, it was literally the number one complain in his career pre- the tarver KO.
can RJJ really be fully blamed for the lack of top level opposition?
you had Michalczewski, Calzaghe, Ottke and Hopkins all reach 20 title defenses and the 3 Europeans fought nearly exclusively in their home countries
there wasn't a wealth of talent at that time in the light heavy weight range
in retrospect, John Ruiz was a formidable heavyweight from 2000-04. He had some quality wins and there was a reason he was avoided
Jones never should have gone back to LHW, it aged him years overnight
imo the biggest knock on his legacy is that he showed no ability to adapt to a diminished physical skill set
Man has over 60 wins and over 50 kos...with only 3 loses...that is damn impressive
He will be highly regarded after his career ends. Louis and Holmes both displayed elite skill sets to go along with long title runs. Holmes was undefeated in his prime, Louis lost 1 fight.
Wlad as a young man lost to Purrity, Sanders and Brewster and visited the canvas 12 times. In his best years, he resembled a less versatile Lennox Lewis. Never developed a killer inside punch or learned to be effective punching in close, which Lewis could do if needed.
Holmes had some of the quickest hands and feet in the division. Perhaps the best jab, and a great 1-2. Good finisher and great chin. Beat a prime Ray Mercer when he was in his 40's, better opponent than Wlad has ever beaten
Louis was a great combination puncher (triple left hooks) and perhaps the best ever boxer/puncher at heavyweight. Setup knockouts like no one else, great right hand, underrated boxing skills.
Tyson was the most devastating combination of speed and power in history. Initially was very good at setting up knockouts and a great combination puncher. Quickly neglected technique, became a 1 punch KO artist, Buster Douglas, jail...you know the story
Joey Maxim TKO 14 Sugar Ray Robinson
David Tua TKO 10 Hasim Rahman
Michael Grant TKO 10 Andrew Golota
Leotis Martin KO 9 Sonny Liston
Ali TKO 11 Ron Lyle
Floyd has never boxed like Leonard at 147. He fights with little movement, often resting inside or on the ropes. Movement is what won Leonard the rematch and Floyd can't do that. Leonard is also 5'11 with excellent power for a welter. He has fought like Leonard did in the first fight in just about every single fight he's ever had at 147. He just doesn't have the same hand speed, combination punching or power.
Duran didn't handle weight well after 147. Coming up from 118 though, and with his ****ty training habits, it's not surprising.
Best versions of both at 147? Duran UD.
uh what did floyd do in the last round 6 months ago at 154 and at 35 years old? but no he cant use movement when hes younger at 147. Your hate blinds you leaving you unable to rationally describe fighters styles and abilities.
Floyd definitely fights with movement, but I'd agree that he couldn't fight like Leonard did in the Duran rematch. The size is the main factor in my opinion. Leonard could effectively score from outside of Duran's range, essentially stopping his attack before it could even start.
Mayweather isn't like that. He will use lateral movement to get out of range, but he does spend much of his time within his opponents danger zone. He manages to beat them to the punch and slips most of what gets thrown. Floyd, in order to score, inevitably has to put himself in range of his opponents.
The Duran that beat Leonard is not losing a fight to any fighter that has to fight within his range
highly unlikely
simple reason is that SRL is a natural welterweight, while Floyd started at 130. Two highly skilled fighters that would frustrate each other, but Mayweather has to be much more weary about taking a punch from Leonard, than vice versa.
SRL opens up the offense a couple times a round, Floyd can't respond equivocally and that is your difference
Except you're using totally different fighting styles. Floyd Sr. is very close to Floyd's shadow, but without the rolling, the inside-work, the accuracy, the same level of power, or the same level of defense.
SRL won the fight very convincingly, but why can't boxing fans ever look at a fight with a more analytical mind? Such as looking at what fundamentals is giving a certain fighter tactical problems. Floyd Jr. begins to diminish problems he initially has by adapting on the fly is the difference, while SRL does not on anywhere near the same extent. So while you could say "well what about the problems that the fundamentals deployed by SRL could give Floyd Jr.?", what we DO know is that Floyd adapts within the same fight, and has continued to improve skill-wise throughout his career. So the following issue is more emphasized, "How well is SRL going to answer the problems that Floyd Jr. brings to their matchup?". We know Floyd finds answers, very effectively, but how well will Leonard against a guy who's going to be adapting quicker than him throughout the fight?"
Furthermore, Floyd in his 10th fight towards now, versus SRL in his 10th fight towards the later parts of his career, Floyd has the greater gap of improvement between his younger self and later self. SRL made adjustments to his skillset throughout his career, but not to the same extent.
From a boxing fundamental standpoint, Floyd Sr. posed several tactical problems for SRL and SRL has admitted that, even going as far to say that he had the greatest defense he ever went up against in his entire career. If you choose not to see that, or you simply can't, then I can't help you.
yeah, SRL becoming the aggressor, wearing down and knocking out Tommy Hearns pales in comparison to Floyd losing a couple early rounds to Zab Judah
I also don't remember Floyd adapting too well against Castillo when he thought he was down on points
Floyd has become a very smart fighter, but he'd be facing an opponent in SRL who is worlds better than anyone he's fought and who knows how well he'd adapt under those circumstances.
I like Floyd, but 147 is his 4th weight class compared an ATG natural welterweight in SRL
3rd, behind Ali and Louis.
20 title defenses from 1978-85. As for his opposition, he defeated seven boxers who held a portion of the title at some point in their careers during his reign as champ. It wasn't elite by any means, but he didn't just dispose of tomato cans.
Holmes was already 28 when he won the title and was past his prime for Spinks, he had already shown a noticeable decline for a couple years before that. Holmes from 77-82 had incredible physical ability, great foot and hand speed. Had one of the best jabs ever seen in the division and a brilliant 1-2 combo. Showed an ability to recover from some wicked shots, the 2nd Shavers fight being the best example. Knew how to effectively tie up fighters on the inside. His weakness in his prime was a tendency to have lapses in concentration during fights, he would relax and take a shot that had business landing.
All time great fighter who is underrated in terms of the legacy he has left in the general boxing publics mind
No point of this fight happening. If Hopkins was the middleweight champ as he was 10 years ago, then maybe I could see the appeal.
Hopkins hung around at 160 too long and it cost him against Taylor. He is a big man at 6'1 with a 75 inch reach. LHW is natural for him at this point. Floyd is naturally 145ish and is 5'8.
No win situation for either fighter. Hopkins beats up a small guy, Floyd beats an old man who was weight drained.
btw De La Hoya was a joke as a middleweight, got a gift against Sturm, didnt belong in the same ring as BHop
Who else can floyd fight that would be interesting. nobody else left in the GB stable. garcia, khan are very easy work for mayweather. what's next rematches with the ghost or ortiz?
but yea 0.000000001% chance this fight happens.
contractual issues aside, if he wants to make his resume as good as possible
challenge Golovikin if he wins next week, at 160, no catchweight.
win or lose, fight Pacquiao next. Yes it should have happened years ago but better late than never.
yes,,,,busch was almost as bad
as someone with a degree in political science, you could argue he's a bad president
worst ever? no way that you can make that argument with points that are academically valid
please keep inane commentary off boxing threads, if i want to read that il go somewhere thats dedicated to it
let me guess,,,it was racially motivated? the poor black man is always shooting someone becuz of us dominating white folk. oh,,,wait the most inept president in our history was elected to a second term so Im obviously wrong here :bottle:
9/11
Iraq
the entire financial sector nearly going under
i miss those days
sign up for a community college intro criminal justice and political science course