I think it's safe to say, Mayweather has probably the best defence in boxing history

[lebrick]

no doubt.. he even start getting defensive just hearing pac's name..

[El Malo.]

If by defence you mean avoiding top fighters and going on "vacation" when the division is hot, then yes his the defence is the GOAT

[dc3383]

Floyd counts on his opponent tiring out too in many of his fights.

Floyd rarely lets somebody beat on him like Ali did with Foreman hell of a strategy. You get tired from missing punches and following him around.

[ADP02]

Manny would rehydrate to about 145 so basically he fought Oscar at what he usually would come into the ring at. Oscar usually rehydrated prob mid 160's to lose weight after a weigh in shows his body failed hI'm which is no faults of Mannys. But it is what it is he tried to pick on a smaller fighter and paid the price for it.

Oscar miscalculated. According to him, Oscar already had the size advantage all locked up. So he thought that coming in lighter would equate to being faster. In some cases, that is true but once the fight took place, he lost his size advantage and Manny was way too fast .......

Oscar may have been able to do all that in his younger days but this was no longer young Oscar. It was a promoter who was pretending to be a fighter by then.

The Oscar that we knew of had left the building a long time ago.

[dan_cov]

If you are judging Floyd by that then how can Rigondeaux stand up, Donaire is alright but he is a limited fighter albeit an explosive fighter.

So what you said about Floyd applies times 10 to Rigondeaux and Rigondaux has been down more in about 1/4 the fights so that doesn't say to me he gets hit clean less that says lapses are there.

Floyd is an exceptional fighter with an exceptional defense, period.
But he has spent almost 15 years fighting guys with the same styles or same flaws. If he fought the right guys; Tsyzu, Matthysse, Margarito, Pacquaio, Lara he would get hit a hell of a lot more.
Locche, Toney, B-Hop all these old defensive fighters fought real elites and a variety of styles unlike Floyd.

If Joan Guzman had discipline and orchestrated his career like Floyd he could do it the same if not better. Hes every bit as good as Floyd defensively & even better offensively, better combination puncher & he can fight off the ropes too, not laying against the ropes looking to land a slappy counter right hand whilst getting hammered to the body.

Rigondeaux has fought big textbook boxers, brawlers, counterpunchers, boxers, explosive counterpunchers, southpaw counterpunchers, he isn't picking them. Every fighter hes fought in the pros has had a different style.

Sure Rigo can be hit by a good shot but you'd never see him getting battered from pillar to post and hit with 5 punch combinations like Corley, Augustus, Maidana hit Floyd with. The ways to beat him or have great success has always been there he just fights guys incapable of exploiting it.
His defense is great he is a great fighter but a very selective one and I am sure many elite fighters could of done virtually the same if they could of afforded to be so picky.

[ADP02]

Floyd rarely lets somebody beat on him like Ali did with Foreman hell of a strategy. You get tired from missing punches and following him around.

Best comparison is Maidana I fight. Floyd did similar to Ali against Foreman.

No 2 fights are exact. Foreman fight was also a very different environment that also caused Foreman to gas out.

Just saying that Floyd takes advantage of his opponents pressuring him and in turn gassing out for the second half of the fight. Floyd and his team said that they were counting on Maidana to gas out.

[Beercules]

no doubt.. he even start getting defensive just hearing pac's name..

If by defence you mean avoiding top fighters and going on "vacation" when the division is hot, then yes his the defence is the GOAT

Floyd is an exceptional fighter with an exceptional defense, period.
But he has spent almost 15 years fighting guys with the same styles or same flaws. If he fought the right guys; Tsyzu, Matthysse, Margarito, Pacquaio, Lara he would get hit a hell of a lot more.
Locche, Toney, B-Hop all these old defensive fighters fought real elites and a variety of styles unlike Floyd.

If Joan Guzman had discipline and orchestrated his career like Floyd he could do it the same if not better. Hes every bit as good as Floyd defensively & even better offensively, better combination puncher & he can fight off the ropes too, not laying against the ropes looking to land a slappy counter right hand whilst getting hammered to the body.

Rigondeaux has fought big textbook boxers, brawlers, counterpunchers, boxers, explosive counterpunchers, southpaw counterpunchers, he isn't picking them. Every fighter hes fought in the pros has had a different style.

Sure Rigo can be hit by a good shot but you'd never see him getting battered from pillar to post and hit with 5 punch combinations like Corley, Augustus, Maidana hit Floyd with. The ways to beat him or have great success has always been there he just fights guys incapable of exploiting it.
His defense is great he is a great fighter but a very selective one and I am sure many elite fighters could of done virtually the same if they could of afforded to be so picky.

Great post.


Dan and Ray Corso are the only dudes on here that I actually listen to

[puga]

If by defence you mean avoiding top fighters and going on "vacation" when the division is hot, then yes his the defence is the GOAT

Lol, floyd's the best at that too...

[billeau2]

Ali didn't defensively shut down Foreman he let him beat on his body until he got tired than beat him. Hell Castillo never landed on Floyd's head and he made the fight easier in the rematch. Pea had problems with Buddy Mcgirt and Roger. Frazier and Norton gave Ali hell. No one fight determines your defensive capability because it's going to be somebody who will give you hell.

1) Listen to the foreman interview (recent) on NPR. Why discount a defensive tactic? Actually if the fact that Castillo landed on Floyd's body (as you imply by saying he didn't catch him to the head) matters....then it also does for Ali yes?

2) Pea may have had some problems but his defensive capabilities are what enabled him. Frazier and Norton would give anyone hell. Oscar caught Floyd wth jabs for a while, Madianna gave Floyd hell.

My point is that one can go tit for tat because with the exception of Roy Jones...albeit BRIEFLY....nobody really was untouched totally and it would be kind of silly saying that Jone's was a defensive wizard. JOnes ability was incredible but it was not defense.

But my real point in mentioning Ali was and is, that its hard to come up with a criteria for what makes a fighter comprable defensively to another fighter when we get to the real good defensive fighters. My own preference would be a defensive ability that, while not being counterpunching, creates opportunities for the fighter and allows him to win by virtue of defensive actions.

For example, Julio Ceaser Chavez, a real pressing punching machine was outclassed and beaten (scrrew the judges) by Pea because of defensive movements that took away Chavez's punching ability and press. Ali defensively created the win over Foreman...Foreman says as much. These are examples....BUT Mayweather could not defensively neutralize Madianna, Correles, Castillo. He won doing other things.

[billeau2]

Floyd rarely lets somebody beat on him like Ali did with Foreman hell of a strategy. You get tired from missing punches and following him around.

Ridiculous oversimplification, Ali used angles, timing and body movement to take the sting out of those punches. YOu could not simply let Foreman punch on you....these are the same idiots who think ali got Parkinsons because of the Rope a dope.