Who's the better defensive fighter Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Pernell Whitaker?

[!! Shawn]

Sweet Pea for me...a that is with Floyd being an ATG defender. Pernell was just amazing to watch from a defensive perspective from an athletic standpoint of simply being able to avoid punches from an opponent that was right in front of him, while Floyd's defensive greatness has a bit more to do with his ring intelligence and positioning.

Both are at least top 5 defensive fighters EVER in my opinion.

This right here. Floyds defense is two parts positioning, and controlling the opponent, 1 part reflexes and athleticism.

Pernell defense is 2 parts reflexes and athleticism, 1 part matrix ****.

[Doctor_Tenma]

Mayweather got hit less, it also helped that he didn't clown as much as Whitaker. Only reason you can't go wrong with thinking otherwise is because Whitaker was more offensive minded.

[boliodogs]

For pure defense I voted for Whitaker. He was very hard to hit but he often ran. As an all around fighter combining defense and offense I think Mayweather is better.

[DLT]

they are both great and you cant go wrong either way but I will call Floyd the better defensive fighter for the simple fact that he is righty. Again, so many people overlook how big of an advantage being a Southpaw is. Most guys dont know how to fight Southpaws and a boxer may go his whole career with fighting only a couple of them while Southpaws fight orthodox guys nearly every fight and every day in the gym.

This is the same thing I use to tell people when they would compare Floyd to Rigo. If Floyd was a Southpaw, he would be even better defensively and harder to beat

[elfag]

I say floyd because he does it using good fundamentals.

Whitaker takes a lot of risks but gets away with it because of his reflexes and athleticism. He leaves himself squared up to opponents a lot when slipping combinations, if one were to land he would be in a really bad position, he also isnt in a position to counter nearly as often as floyd. Floyd is all around far smarter with his defense, whitaker is more entertaining. Floyd is pretty rare in that he has a high level of athleticism but also one of the best fundamentalists out there along with hopkins.

[Xi_]

Floyd is 38 and at the top of the sport still..... How the fuk can anyone with a brain think that Whitaker has better defense?

[Cinci Champ]

I guess ask yourself if Whitaker would absorb 75% of Maidana's punches for the first 6 rounds they fought

ya but if we are talking prime for prime might have to go mayweather

[StiffBlab]

Floyd is 38 and at the top of the sport still..... How the fuk can anyone with a brain think that Whitaker has better defense?

And it's not even close. There is literally nobody we can imagine that is a good fight for Floyd. We have to include GGG who has a 20 lb weight advantage just to find hope that he would be challenged.

He's the most dominant athlete in sports right now.

[JohnnyRebel]

they are both great and you cant go wrong either way but I will call Floyd the better defensive fighter for the simple fact that he is righty. Again, so many people overlook how big of an advantage being a Southpaw is. Most guys dont know how to fight Southpaws and a boxer may go his whole career with fighting only a couple of them while Southpaws fight orthodox guys nearly every fight and every day in the gym.

This is the same thing I use to tell people when they would compare Floyd to Rigo. If Floyd was a Southpaw, he would be even better defensively and harder to beat

I agree with this post.

[No Tomorrow]

Pernell Whitaker