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this was from a Conference call transcript with Arum, Mayweather and the media (which included Kevin Iole and Dan rafeal) right before the Zab Judah fight......
ROBERT MORALES: Hey, Bob, what makes you say – we all know all the fighters you’ve been involved in, all the fighters you’ve seen, what makes you say that Floyd is the best fighter you’ve seen in 40 years other than the young Muhammad Ali?
BOB ARUM: Well, you know, there are a number of aspects that make a great fighter. One is speed. His speed is phenomenal. The way he throws punches, phenomenal. The way he is conditioned, phenomenal. I mean, he’s the entire whole package. And beside all of those skills, he is the – again, put Ali aside – and during those couple of years with Ali , I mean, maybe because my eyes were younger then, but put Ali aside, other than Ali, he’s the most intelligent fighter that I have ever seen. I mean, Floyd, this is no bull****; Floyd can see a punch coming before the other guy knows he’s going to throw it. Do you understand that? I mean, I have never seen such ring intelligence that Floyd demonstrates.
And so he’s the whole package, and you know, Ray Leonard was a great fighter, Marvin Hagler was a great fighter, Duran certainly was great, Oscar had a couple of years where he was very good, but there’s nobody that is a whole package like Floyd.
ROBERT MORALES: Hey, Bob, what makes you say – we all know all the fighters you’ve been involved in, all the fighters you’ve seen, what makes you say that Floyd is the best fighter you’ve seen in 40 years other than the young Muhammad Ali?
BOB ARUM: Well, you know, there are a number of aspects that make a great fighter. One is speed. His speed is phenomenal. The way he throws punches, phenomenal. The way he is conditioned, phenomenal. I mean, he’s the entire whole package. And beside all of those skills, he is the – again, put Ali aside – and during those couple of years with Ali , I mean, maybe because my eyes were younger then, but put Ali aside, other than Ali, he’s the most intelligent fighter that I have ever seen. I mean, Floyd, this is no bull****; Floyd can see a punch coming before the other guy knows he’s going to throw it. Do you understand that? I mean, I have never seen such ring intelligence that Floyd demonstrates.
And so he’s the whole package, and you know, Ray Leonard was a great fighter, Marvin Hagler was a great fighter, Duran certainly was great, Oscar had a couple of years where he was very good, but there’s nobody that is a whole package like Floyd.
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