5 keys to defeating Floyd Mayweather: A 17 year study

[sbbigmike]

you have to hurt Floyd. and once he opens up, and becomes aggressive, that's where the opportunity comes. take it to him.

Sergio Martinez comes to mind, im sure he can hurt floyd. I just don't know if it's possible for him to come down to 152

Sergio doesnt have a chance once Floyd is not dumb enough to walk straight into him, he'll stand at a distance and pick him apart, once Floyd or any fighter see that Sergio only throws jabs and straights, with no type on inside game, he's easy work, with a suspect chin to boot

Garica comes to mind a highly advanced counter puncher with ko power who will punch while Floyd gets wild in the middle of his punching

[BoxingFollower]

Thomas Hearns or Ray Leonard are the only styles to beat Floyd Mayweather.

Duran is a legend, ATG, top 10 best fighters of all time. Resume 10 times better than Floyd Mayweather, but dude would easily lose by UD.
Duran Vs Mayweather would look like SRL Vs Duran 2...too much movement.

[BUNGALOWS]

To beat Floyd you better be in the mold of Ray Robinson or Tommy Hearns and the people who they say he was ducking are no where close to that mold.

That's not how boxing works. Its a game of inches and physical/mental traits.

Ortiz had some success, but if he was a tad faster, and a tad better overall, he's winning those rounds. It doesn't take a Tommmy Hearns to beat Floyd.

Flo d is an ATG, but one of the most overrated fighters of all time. EASILY.

Replace Hatton with Duran, and Floyd might've died in the ring that night.

[BUNGALOWS]

Thomas Hearns or Ray Leonard are the only styles to beat Floyd Mayweather.

Duran is a legend, ATG, top 10 best fighters of all time. Resume 10 times better than Floyd Mayweather, but dude would easily lose by UD.
Duran Vs Mayweather would look like SRL Vs Duran 2...too much movement.

Duran ballooned up to 200 lbs. after their first fight, and was drinking, doing drugs, and eating at buffets. He took the fight anyway because of the pay.

Let's use context please. If Ortiz/Cotto/JLC/Hatton/Oscar can give Floyd some problems, Duran TKOs/UD Floyd.

[Luilun]

Zab Judah had the physical tools to beat Floyd, but just didn't have the discipline or focus. Shane had the speed and power, but not the smarts or stamina. Anyone who can match his hand speed will give him problems, but they still have to be smart and mix their attack up. The only guys I see giving Floyd trouble at this stage is Amir Khan and Devon Alexander. They both would force Floyd to change up his style and become the aggressor. But in saying that, neither have the mental toughness necessary to carry out their game plan for all 12 rounds.

Problem with Shane was he was 39 years old and had no roids, Judah had the skills but mentally breaks down if he's in a rough fight the other 2 guys would get knock out

[mathed]

Sergio doesnt have a chance once Floyd is not dumb enough to walk straight into him, he'll stand at a distance and pick him apart, once Floyd or any fighter see that Sergio only throws jabs and straights, with no type on inside game, he's easy work, with a suspect chin to boot

Garica comes to mind a highly advanced counter puncher with ko power who will punch while Floyd gets wild in the middle of his punching

You must not have seen Williams-Sergio I or the Chavez fight. Sergio ate Chavez up on the inside, uppercuts, hooks to the body enough to push the 185 pound fighter into the ropes and force him to back up.

If he can force Chavez jr to retreat, you think Floyd is just going to pick him apart? Like Floyd said, if Sergio comes to 147 or 150, they can fight. Wonder why he wants him down that low? Garcia??????? Now that's a guy that gets picked apart by Floyd.

[Jack Napier]

Pac's shot now and Floyd was never gonna fight him anyway
there's nobody left who can take him except Lara
and that fight will never happen, so Floyd's safe
he can beat Alvarez and Lucas then retire

[waxfondler]

i honestly believe 130s version of floyd was damn near perfect... but i have beef with 147 version (up until recently). "money"s matchmaking was blatant, theres nothing wrong with that, but call it what it is.

i honestly believe floyd retired to AVOID the heated WW division. the division was stacked, with ELITE fighters & SOLID up & comers. seriously, just ask yourself WHY would floyd retire temporarily??? then come back and bring up a 135-er to 147 simply to boast he beat #2 p4p guy but on suspect circumstances... people talk about context, that was a PERFECT example.

i think prime p-will wouldve beaten floyd (or at least wouldve exposed more about floyds game), he had the reach & workrate to outhustle and steal rounds on floyd. floyd would be shelled up all night unable to establish a meaningful offense. people forget how diverse and relentless p-wills offense was. he broke winky down solidly (granted, it was a faded version, but you dont lose technique/skill).

loading up on 1 punch is the WORST thing to do against floyd... you CANNOT win a fight with 1 punch (unless you are gatti). RIGO said it best. floyd fights are textbook: opponent starts out strong, floyd takes away offense, opponent reduced to waiting to land KO punch, floyd ups his offense and takes over, another comfy decision. not only does floyd have TALENT, but his system keeps WORKING..... its like wlad, his current system is untouchable, people complain but it WORKS.

IMO, a FIGHTER will beat floyd, not a BOXER.... how can you outbox the best boxer of this generation??? you dont. JMM is a legendary boxer, he was forced to fight out of his character and lost embarrassingly... thats why fighters with dynamic and unpredictable offenses would be DANGEROUS for floyd. simply put, keep the defensive fighter on the defensive... win rounds and outhustle floyd based on workrate and ring generalship, and hope haymon doesnt influence the judges.

i doubt anyone will ever DOMINATE floyd, but i think there really were some fighters that had potential to outwork and get a decision over floyd... sadly, those fights were NEVER made. blame it on whoever makes you feel better. LOL. floyds ace is haymon, close decisions will favor a haymon fighter. we have seen it NUMEROUS times.

its easy to **** on pac now, but pac had a window of opportunity... his offense was dynamic and hard to defend. his speed matched floyd. judges LOVED his fighting style. i can totally see pac clenching a close decision over floyd... possibly even dropping floyd mid rounds. it would be a close pac/jmm type of decision though. highly debated, which would set up a blockbuster rematch.... DAMN these divas ruined an all-time great rivalry and record-breaking $$$$$$.

[Light_Speed]

1) Stick the jab with variety...Throw one jab at a time and not bringing it back fast enough makes you a sucker for the pull counter and a parried jab/straight right counter. Changing the speed, and angle of the the jab will make him think and keep him on his toes

Good point, you'll be able to give him problems with it, but it's not gonna be enough to actually win the fight.

2) Punch with him...when he throws rights to the head and body he sticks his chin out.....When a FIGHTER is the faster fighter his opponents often wait til he is done throwing and lose the opportunity to catch him because of his speed, reflexes and defenses. every fighter is vulnerable to being hit when throwing their own punches.

3) When Floyd throws his right hand to the body and to the head he sticks his chin and head up....Zab Judah dropped him unoffically with a counter right hook...Also Corley, Castillo, and others capitalized when he lift his chin when he throws his right hand shots....COUNTER HIS RIGHT TO THE BODY WITH A RIGHT UPPERCUT OR LEFT HOOK TO THE HEAD OR BODY IF ORTHODOX FIGHTER

What Floyd does best is catching guys when they least expect it. In order to counter him you would have to figure out his rhythm but the thing is, he constantly changes his rhythm and his single punch speed is one of the highest I've ever seen. I think it's better to be proactive rather than reactive against Floyd.

4) Take away his jab and counter to the body....Jab with him, counter him whether to the head or body...the is gonna land some but its better than getting hit with power shots....taking away the jab disrrupts any fighters rhythm and he would depend on lead rights and left hooks which are easier to counter than the jab

I wouldn't try to counter the jab, Floyd uses his jab to set traps, once you start focusing on his jab and try to counter it, you'll get hit with right hands and left hooks.

Here's what happens if you try to jab with him :



He'll feint the jab and then counter your jab.

5) Mix the attack to the head and the body..."Like I said Before..." pun intended Floyd is quick minded, variety is key to the attack....dont stick to one combo or one counter he will figure it out and counter you

Yeah but what kind of combinations in particular, it's a pretty vague advice, it's like saying "do everything".

[The Big Dunn]

i honestly believe 130s version of floyd was damn near perfect... but i have beef with 147 version (up until recently). "money"s matchmaking was blatant, theres nothing wrong with that, but call it what it is.

i honestly believe floyd retired to AVOID the heated WW division. the division was stacked, with ELITE fighters & SOLID up & comers. seriously, just ask yourself WHY would floyd retire temporarily??? then come back and bring up a 135-er to 147 simply to boast he beat #2 p4p guy but on suspect circumstances... people talk about context, that was a PERFECT example.

i think prime p-will wouldve beaten floyd (or at least wouldve exposed more about floyds game), he had the reach & workrate to outhustle and steal rounds on floyd. floyd would be shelled up all night unable to establish a meaningful offense. people forget how diverse and relentless p-wills offense was. he broke winky down solidly (granted, it was a faded version, but you dont lose technique/skill).

loading up on 1 punch is the WORST thing to do against floyd... you CANNOT win a fight with 1 punch (unless you are gatti). RIGO said it best. floyd fights are textbook: opponent starts out strong, floyd takes away offense, opponent reduced to waiting to land KO punch, floyd ups his offense and takes over, another comfy decision. not only does floyd have TALENT, but his system keeps WORKING..... its like wlad, his current system is untouchable, people complain but it WORKS.

IMO, a FIGHTER will beat floyd, not a BOXER.... how can you outbox the best boxer of this generation??? you dont. JMM is a legendary boxer, he was forced to fight out of his character and lost embarrassingly... thats why fighters with dynamic and unpredictable offenses would be DANGEROUS for floyd. simply put, keep the defensive fighter on the defensive... win rounds and outhustle floyd based on workrate and ring generalship, and hope haymon doesnt influence the judges.

i doubt anyone will ever DOMINATE floyd, but i think there really were some fighters that had potential to outwork and get a decision over floyd... sadly, those fights were NEVER made. blame it on whoever makes you feel better. LOL. floyds ace is haymon, close decisions will favor a haymon fighter. we have seen it NUMEROUS times.

its easy to **** on pac now, but pac had a window of opportunity... his offense was dynamic and hard to defend. his speed matched floyd. judges LOVED his fighting style. i can totally see pac clenching a close decision over floyd... possibly even dropping floyd mid rounds. it would be a close pac/jmm type of decision though. highly debated, which would set up a blockbuster rematch.... DAMN these divas ruined an all-time great rivalry and record-breaking $$$$$$.

just ask yourself WHY would floyd retire temporarily??? then come back and bring up a 135-er to 147 simply to boast he beat #2 p4p guy but on suspect circumstances... people talk about context, that was a PERFECT example.

2 main reasons.

1. The hand injuries, although I think he could've come back in 6 months at worst.
2. The larger reason was FLoyd and his team realized that boxing had become about personality driven ppv sales. The wagered that by limiting his appearances he could command a high salary.

It was also clear that all the people he begged to fight pre ODH that turned him down now suddenly were chomping at the bit to fight him for the huge payday. So he pulled a Sugar Ray Leonard and chilled. IMO it was completly financially driven.

Obviously the JMM comeback was because JMM had a cloe fight with Pac. WHile hardcore fans know triangle theories don't work, casual fans believe strongly if A beats B and B beats C that A will beat C.