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Bradley is gifted in two areas that WILL give Mayweather trouble: activity and movement!
Mayweather is at his best when he can dissuade his opponent from throwing punches. It's typical for his opponents to throw 30 punches a round by the middle to late rounds. Simply put most fighters either get discouraged when they try to open up on him, or they hesitate looking for openings that never come.
Floyd is also gifted at moving around the ring away from trouble, keeping his opponents from sticking on him. We saw this in the Canelo fight where Floyd was always one step ahead of Canelo, sometimes too steps. Alvarez just didn't have the footworrk to follow up on Mayweather.
Tim Bradley can overcome both of these defects. His activity is constant and consistent; he out-threw Manny Pacquiao in their fight and Pacquiao is well-known for activity himself. Bradley mostly pot-shotted with his jab against Marquez but he also occasionally threw combinations of anywhere from three to seven punches when he felt he had an opening. In the past Bradley has been known to throw ten- or eleven-punch combinations.
Bradley is also a gifted mover, as he showed against Juan Manuel Marquez recently. His footwork is fantastic, just go back and watch the Peterson fight and you will see him strafe a skilled inside fighter from every angle. His head movement was superb, he didn't let Marquez land any clean counters against him.
Simply put these two attributes would give Mayweather problems in the ring. Floyd relies on controlling his fights in measured moments, but Bradley is the type of fighter who could ratchet up the pace at a moment's glance and swarm him with combos. Mayweather's counter-punches are sharp, but in Bradley he would be fighting an opponent who knows how to be elusive after he throws. His movement is still supreme, but Bradley is just as gifted in footwork.
Floyd would certainly be the favorite, but anyone who thinks Bradley has no chance should look at the styles matchup here. This would be a very competitive fight imo.
Mayweather is at his best when he can dissuade his opponent from throwing punches. It's typical for his opponents to throw 30 punches a round by the middle to late rounds. Simply put most fighters either get discouraged when they try to open up on him, or they hesitate looking for openings that never come.
Floyd is also gifted at moving around the ring away from trouble, keeping his opponents from sticking on him. We saw this in the Canelo fight where Floyd was always one step ahead of Canelo, sometimes too steps. Alvarez just didn't have the footworrk to follow up on Mayweather.
Tim Bradley can overcome both of these defects. His activity is constant and consistent; he out-threw Manny Pacquiao in their fight and Pacquiao is well-known for activity himself. Bradley mostly pot-shotted with his jab against Marquez but he also occasionally threw combinations of anywhere from three to seven punches when he felt he had an opening. In the past Bradley has been known to throw ten- or eleven-punch combinations.
Bradley is also a gifted mover, as he showed against Juan Manuel Marquez recently. His footwork is fantastic, just go back and watch the Peterson fight and you will see him strafe a skilled inside fighter from every angle. His head movement was superb, he didn't let Marquez land any clean counters against him.
Simply put these two attributes would give Mayweather problems in the ring. Floyd relies on controlling his fights in measured moments, but Bradley is the type of fighter who could ratchet up the pace at a moment's glance and swarm him with combos. Mayweather's counter-punches are sharp, but in Bradley he would be fighting an opponent who knows how to be elusive after he throws. His movement is still supreme, but Bradley is just as gifted in footwork.
Floyd would certainly be the favorite, but anyone who thinks Bradley has no chance should look at the styles matchup here. This would be a very competitive fight imo.
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