Floyd Mayweather the Least Hit Fighter in Compubox History

[TehRedRanger]

nahh, the numbers dont matter. didnt matter for pea, benitez, pep, locche, etc.

To say numbers don't matter is absurd. Yes we can tell by his style and reputation he is an incredible defensive fighter, hence how it worked for sweet pea, el radar etc. and as inaccurate compubox numbers may be it is not nearly as inaccurate as our eyes and own judgement. This system just puts the facts given under a more critical eye. We are given statistics that weren't given before. A tool to use in addition to our own judgment and take on things.

[SplitSecond]

thank you lack-luster opposition

floyd got hit plenty vs castillo, hatton and hoya

[P4P_No1]

In before: Only because he runs all the time!!!!111!ONEONE

:lol: But his legs are shot?

haha

Real talk boys.

[treason1]

when your opposition consists of bums like brussales , shambay michel , baldomire , ortiz , hernadez , and sosa it really isnt that hard to see why he hasnt been hit as much !!!!!!! plus the way he runs around the ring makes opponents board !!!!!!!!!!!!!! put mayweather in the ring with better quality opponents and i bet he wouldve gotten hit more !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kagami Taiga]

thank you lack-luster opposition

floyd got hit plenty vs castillo, hatton and hoya

plenty??? when compared to who??? himself?? u never cease to amaze me with your ******ity.

[nicamarvin]

thank you lack-luster opposition

floyd got hit plenty vs castillo, hatton and hoya

you can add all them hits(Castillo,Hatton, Hoya) and they still come short to hits Pac got vs Marquez in the first 3 rounds...

[edgarg]

Floyd Mayweather Jr. reigns supreme in the hit-and-don't-get-hit game.

"Hit and don't get hit," goes the old adage in boxing. And from a statistical perspective, at least, it seems no one is better at living up to that credo than Floyd Mayweather Jr.

According to Bob Canobbio, owner and founder of CompuBox -- a computerized scoring system that counts every punch a boxer throws and lands -- Mayweather's average connect rate of 46 percent, compiled during his past nine fights (a "prime" designated by CompuBox), ranks as the best among current active fighters.

Power In Numbers

Baseball has Bill James and the Oakland A's Beane counters. The NBA has its Sloan Conference. Even the NFL, often seemingly stuck in a "Mad Men" time warp, is starting to answer the siren song of statistical analysis.

But boxing? Turns out the sweet science isn't so scientific after all.

Our hope is to change that, or at least to get fight fans talking and thinking about how even basic statistics can help reveal truths about the sport we love.

By how much? Well, fellow pound-for-pound greats such as Sergio Martinez and Miguel Cotto (both 34 percent during their primes) just don't hold up. And Nonito Donaire, it seems, isn't as flashy as his "Filipino Flash" nickname suggests, averaging only 29 percent. Mayweather's only competition in the accuracy stakes is super middleweight champion Andre Ward, at 38 percent.

More impressive than Mayweather's own connect percentage is that of Floyd's opponents against him. They land a mere 16 percent of punches thrown, the lowest collective figure recorded in CompuBox's 4,000-fight database.

-- Statistics courtesy of CompuBox

Mayweather beat all comers by throwing 20 fewer punches per round (38.6) than the weight class average of 58.4. Yet despite the relatively low output, Mayweather landed only two fewer punches per round (17.5) than the weight class average of 19.1. Those numbers attest to a fighter who rarely misses, indeed one of the most efficient punchers alive.

So how does Pacquiao compare? The numbers are undeniably impressive. His 21.8 punches connected per round is greater than Mayweather's. But with Pacquiao, the numbers also illuminate his most glaring weakness, one he shares with countless other warriors of the ring: He gets hit a lot.

Measured against Mayweather's plus-30 rating at 147 pounds, Pacquiao's plus/minus is puny (plus-4.7). Manny throws his jab twice as often as Mayweather, but he connects with that punch only 12.3 percent of the time, compared with Mayweather's 41.6 percent jab connect rate.

More telling is the comparison of power punching. Pacquiao's connect rate on power punches is an astronomical 45.3 percent, only slightly below that of Mayweather, who lands at 47.8 percent. But opponents land 33.6 percent of their punches on PacMan. Pretty Boy's foes? They touch him up at roughly half that rate (18.6 percent).

Perhaps this explains why Juan Manuel Marquez had so much success against Pacquiao, while Mayweather recorded a one-sided rout against JMM. Most likely, it was only Pacquiao's industry and granite chin that saved the day in his three wars with Marquez.

Greatest of all time?

Statistically speaking, Mayweather clearly reigns supreme over his contemporaries. But he also stacks up very well against history's pugilistic pantheon.

CompuBox stats suggest Mayweather sits high atop a pile of fighters whose numbers were measured during their designated primes, tabulated using ringside figures and fight films. In a plus/minus comparison, greats such as Marvin Hagler (plus-17 percent) and Sugar Ray Leonard (plus-13 percent) don't come close. Roberto Duran (plus-8 percent), Thomas Hearns (plus-6 percent) and Muhammad Ali (plus-4 percent) fall short, too.

Only heavyweight great Joe Louis, at plus-26 percent, approached Mayweather's peak. And the one area, at least for this particular analysis, in which Mayweather had competition was connect percentage, where Louis and fellow former heavyweight champ Lennox Lewis edged him by 2 percent.

The name on the lips of most who might dispute Mayweather's claim as boxing's GOAT is Sugar Ray Robinson. There is almost unanimous agreement among experts that Robinson's reign at welterweight represented boxing skill at its purest, perhaps not bettered since. Unfortunately, no film footage exists of his exploits at that weight, and we are left to rely only on written accounts of his brilliance.

Full disclosure: The CompuBox statistics for Robinson are sampled from his below-peak middleweight years (although he is also widely considered the greatest middleweight of all time). The absence of comprehensive (and in some cases, any) data from bygone eras is an inherent drawback in any historical statistical analysis, but the numbers we have, combined with anecdotal evidence, give us the foundation to start a Robinson-versus-Mayweather discussion.

Calculating "greatness" by the numbers might be an impossible task. But for the purposes of this analysis, and taking into account that age-old boxing axiom, we may have to concede that Mayweather is every bit as good as he claims to be: the greatest ever.

http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id...-boxing-greats

Well, nobody is denying that Mayweather throws punches only when he thinks he'll score. I'm wondering however, why the article writer deliberately chose his last NINE fights when most others were 6 and 7 fights. (one was 8)

Could it have been because the extra 2 fights were Sharmba Mitchell and Gatti, both of whom were only C fighters at best and completely outclassed. naturally this would build up Mayweather's average, to suit the article's reason for being, BUMPFH for Mayweather.

During Roy Jones' peek years, nobody was able to hit him-except by accident. His average must have been in single digits.

[turbotime]

Floyd's no doubt one of the best defenders ever. But like others are mentioning, his competition in comparison to the likes of what Ali & Robinson faced is a far reach, but you can't blame Floyd for that. That's not to say he's fought **** fighters (far from the truth), but put Robinson in with the last 15 years of Middleweights or Ali w/ last 15 years of Heavyweights and likely they would be considered the GOAT.

You could say the same for Floyd though if you just stuck him in one weight class of your choosing in the last 15 years.

[Light_Speed]

Floyd is one of the best defensive fighter ever no doubt but like many have said, the level opposition plays a big part in this. If he had fought SRL, Duran, Hearns, Hagler and Benitez, the numbers would be VERY different.

[turbotime]

Floyd is one of the best defensive fighter ever no doubt but like many have said, the level opposition plays a big part in this. If he had fought SRL, Duran, Hearns, Hagler and Benitez, the numbers would be VERY different.

Are you using Ray Leonard's resume? Why not use his best weight against the ATG's instead? He is clearly maxed out at welterweight. Ray Leonard fought most of these guys at his best weight and the weight he started out at.