Pernell Whitakker had far better footwork than any version of Floyd Mayweather.

[soul_survivor]

The only fights that are called robberies are Ramirez 1, Chavez and Oscar are the only one that wasn't a robbery out of those three was Oscar.

I didn't just say robberies, I said fights that became close...they were close because Whitaker allowed them to be that way. He has plenty of close scorecards throughout his career.

Having said that, I think the JCC fight was a horrible decision, Whitaker won that but yet again, he allowed for it to be close due to his clowning.

[-PBP-]

The DLH whitaker faced wasn't exactly prime either. And Mayweather clearly beat DLH more convincingly. So no, your argument is flawed.

Much closer to his prime than Whitaker was. Whitaker was shot after the Julio Cesar Vazquez fight.

[kiDynamite92]

Could definitely add Savon in the mix as well as a lot of other high end Cuban amateurs. I love Erislandy's style so rare you see a fighter of his size be that smooth and fluid, he made Anthony Joshua look utterly ridiculous still gutted he got robbed. I'd love him to turn pro.

That really would be a HW prospect to get excited about.

Erislandy's footwork is just beautiful. If he turned pro his footwork could be talked about alongside Muhammad Ali.

[pvj]

Respectfully disagree. Pw had that low stance that made it very difficult for fighters to find him, whereas Floyd stays right down the pipe just very difficult to hit. Statistically Floyd prevails and hard to make a case for PW having more pop, I'd give a slight edge to Floyd.

I do agree that PW was more apt to fight everyone, but it was a slightly different era.
And let's not forget, duva opted to wait a bit before throwing Pw in with jcc.

[JasonBoxing]

The only fights that are called robberies are Ramirez 1, Chavez and Oscar are the only one that wasn't a robbery out of those three was Oscar.

I have no idea what that sentence means or how this relates to the original topic. I'll get you back on track.




Some people will claim that Whitaker often uses his 'slips and jives' to create an illusion of great defense while Floyd does not need to resort to these tactics.

The idea that the measured worth of the execution of a skill should be measured in its closeness to conventional usage flies in the face of boxing's status as an art. It is a craft, but the execution of the craft is highly individual, and sometimes quite unorthodox.



In regards to the Chavez fight. It was nowhere near close and it a horrific robbery. As mentioned earlier, the fight also showed Whitaker's superior footwork in every way. The first four rounds even more so.

While Whitaker's entire arsenal was used to neutralize Chavez's offence, the first 4 rounds of the fight determined that Whitaker's superior footwork was what enabled him to choose when he would fight inside or outside, and how to evade Chavez's punches and offensive angle without sacrificing his balance or being out of position to punch. Again, for every time you want to point to Whitaker crossing his feet, there are many more instances of Whitaker controlling the center and shifting direction and using angles to his advantage both offensively and defensively. No amount of foot-speed is going to stop a fighter from paying dearly against such a fighter unless they can choose when to deviate from the convention and otherwise execute great textbook footwork.

He's doing this against one of the best pressure fighters of all time, mind you. He's doing this against Julio Cesar Chavez, and dropping about 3 rounds in the process. This fight is not a phone-booth fight where Whitaker dominates JCC on the inside for most of all 12 rounds, it is a constant bull VS matador dynamic where Whitaker takes over after the first 4 and decides the range and angle at which the fight will be fought at all times.