Why do people think Thomas Hearns would beat Floyd so easily?

[Sweet Jones]

What is it based on?

Do you seriously think he'd have taken a fight with a peak Tommy Hearns?

Seriously?

We're only offering theoretical opinions just for the sake of the thread.

I've watched Floyd an awful long time. He's one of the greatest to ever lace them up. But it seems obvious to me, that he'd have fought defensively, with his main aim to have not gotten hurt.

That opinion is based on how he fights and how he's carried himself over the years. We know he didn't have the will of someone like Ray Leonard.

If you don't agree, tell me why.

I think it's a fantasy to think that he'd have been willing to fight Tommy like Benitez and Ray etc did.

I'll tell you why: because this notion that Mayweather would just b**ch up as soon as he faced some adversity in the ring is unjustified and goes against everything you've actually seen in his ACTUAL fights:

- When Zab Judah busted him in the mouth early in that fight, he didn't lose heart. He became more aggressive and walked Zab down.

- When ODLH peppered him with jabs early in the fight, he didn't just fall back and take it. He stepped up his offensive output over the 2nd half of the fight.

- When Shane Mosley rocked him twice in the 2nd round, he didn't become tentative. 30 seconds later he was letting his hands go and came out in the next few rounds and took back control of the center of ring.

- That not even including his grit in the Corley and Hatton fights, nor his standing in front of guys like Canelo, Cotto, etc

This is the problem with a lot of these Mayweather fantasy fight conversations. Some of y'all underestimate the dude's will and fighting spirit.

Really, why makes you think Floyd Mayweather wouldn't bear down and do what he had to do against Hearns like SRL did? It might not work, but there is nothing to suggest he wouldn't go all out for the W or use his ring IQ to find a way to compete.

Floyd Mayweather ain't no punk, mayne. People need to stop that. Dude is an Olympian, comes from a family of fighters and was literally raised in the ring. You don't become an ATG and stay undefeated this long by fighting to 'not get hurt' or having a heart that pumps koolaid.

I used to hear this same type of isht about RJJ, right up until Alton Merkerson told him he needed those last 2 rounds against Tarver I and RJJ went out there, gritted his teeth and got them. Hell, they used to say it about Ray Leonard, prior to the Duran I.

Mayweather might not win, and it's definitely a tough stylistic matchup for him, but there is no basis to believe he'd 'fight scared'.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

And was beat soundly by Iran Barkley.

Lmao...

So you're saying floyd beats Hearn at welter

[billeau2]

I've heard people say, hypothetically, if Floyd and Hearns had met in their prime that Hearns would have destroyed him via knockout.

I get Hearns has the height advantage and could potentially out jab him but why do people think it would be such an easy win for Hearns. Floyd is crafty, I think he would figure Hearns out and avoid his right hand, plus putting some lead rights himself.

The only guy I could see beat Floyd out of the fab 4 is Sugar Ray Leonard.

jab reach and size. Floyd could not keep Tommy off of him.

[billeau2]

well that should tell you that we should stop asking questions about floyd because most of the answers we get are ******ed.

******ed questions equal retaarded answers. People often don't understand that Tommy is much bigger than Floyd. Its really not a knock against Floyd, but the fab four (Duran, Ray, Hagler, Hearns) were all bigger natural middle weights with the exception of Duran.

[sunny31]

I'll tell you why: because this notion that Mayweather would just b**ch up as soon as he faced some adversity in the ring is unjustified and goes against everything you've actually seen in his ACTUAL fights:

- When Zab Judah busted him in the mouth early in that fight, he didn't lose heart. He became more aggressive and walked Zab down.

- When ODLH peppered him with jabs early in the fight, he didn't just fall back and take it. He stepped up his offensive output over the 2nd half of the fight.

- When Shane Mosley rocked him twice in the 2nd round, he didn't become tentative. 30 seconds later he was letting his hands go and came out in the next few rounds and took back control of the center of ring.

- That not even including his grit in the Corley and Hatton fights, nor his standing in front of guys like Canelo, Cotto, etc

This is the problem with a lot of these Mayweather fantasy fight conversations. Some of y'all underestimate the dude's will and fighting spirit.

Really, why makes you think Floyd Mayweather wouldn't bear down and do what he had to do against Hearns like SRL did? It might not work, but there is nothing to suggest he wouldn't go all out for the W or use his ring IQ to find a way to compete.

Floyd Mayweather ain't no punk, mayne. People need to stop that. Dude is an Olympian, comes from a family of fighters and was literally raised in the ring. You don't become an ATG and stay undefeated this long by fighting to 'not get hurt' or having a heart that pumps koolaid.

I used to hear this same type of isht about RJJ, right up until Alton Merkerson told him he needed those last 2 rounds against Tarver I and RJJ went out there, gritted his teeth and got them. Hell, they used to say it about Ray Leonard, prior to the Duran I.

Mayweather might not win, and it's definitely a tough stylistic matchup for him, but there is no basis to believe he'd 'fight scared'.

This is a good post, its his limitations matched up with Hearns physically that makes me pick against him. I would rather think about the fight rather than discuss whether Floyd would have taken it or not. Floyd is a bad man in the ring, plain and simple. Once he was in that ring, he definitely would have tried his all, and definitely elevated himself if he had to, I just think in this particular fight he falls short no matter what he does.

[b00g13man]

*Cough* Fanboy *Cough*

1 v 1 me scrub.

[Scipio2009]

Why do people try and bring up the Benitez fight like it was some nip and tuck contest, it wasn't. Hearns won lopsided, the draw scorecard was awful, you could give Benitez 4 maybe 5 rounds and even then those rounds were close. Hearns peppered him with the jab all fight, countered him with left hooks, hurt him on multiple occasions with the right hand, dropped him legitimately. It was a one sided fight. Did Hearns at times struggle to land they he wanted to? Absolutely, Benitez is a HOF'er and one of the best defensive fighters of all time. But the only punch he had any kind of success with is the lead right hand, and even then his success was limited.

I find it funny that some of you are actually using this as a blue print for Floyd, when I see it as the total opposite, this is how I expect Floyd to be beaten, with a few tweaks. Floyd is a little faster and a little better defensively, but not enough to make a difference. Even though he has a slightly better reach than Benitez, he was 2 inches shorter. Hearns was just too tall, too good, and too athletic to give Floyd any kind of chance. He had Benitez in total control during this contest, he was never in danger of losing at all, and of course he found it difficult to nail Benitez at times. You have to remember Benitez carried pretty good power himself, so the threat of that power meant that Hearn's didn't need to take unnecessary risks just to put more of a beating on Benitez, even though he did put it on him at times and exchanged at times.

I can't see how anyone watching this fight could first have the fight close, and second not see how comfortable Hearns was in there, he stuck to the gameplan and made the fight look easy for the most part.

Because Benitez had clear and obvious spots where he was successful utilizing tools/tactics that come straight from Floyd's repertoire (with Floyd having better tools, tbh). Hearns didn't swamp Benitez, which would leave any observer noting that Hearns is unlikely to swamp Floyd either (it's not like Benitez was coming to the fight as some massive puncher either).

If Benitez can cut Hearns' jab short with his own jab(in spots), what makes you think that Floyd couldn't do the same with a longer jab that he already uses to cut guys short with (need to see more Benitez fights to rate how good his jab actually was)? Benitez consistently used his feet/movement to compel Hearns to reset his feet; what makes you think that Floyd, who arguably has the best ring awareness of anyone in the sport, couldn't do the same?

I'm not foolish enough to say that Floyd routs Hearns, but there's enough circumstantial evidence, in my eyes, to view the fight as being competitive (the fact that you can count on one hand, the times that Floyd has been seriously hurt by a shot, gives underrated credit to the quality of the man's chin).

Over the course of a 15-round fight, if I had to guess, Floyd wins 6 rounds, Hearns wins 6 rounds, and 3 rounds are left in the lurch(to be decided on what each guy brought with them to the actual fight).

[robertzimmerman]

I'll tell you why: because this notion that Mayweather would just b**ch up as soon as he faced some adversity in the ring is unjustified and goes against everything you've actually seen in his ACTUAL fights:

- When Zab Judah busted him in the mouth early in that fight, he didn't lose heart. He became more aggressive and walked Zab down.

- When ODLH peppered him with jabs early in the fight, he didn't just fall back and take it. He stepped up his offensive output over the 2nd half of the fight.

- When Shane Mosley rocked him twice in the 2nd round, he didn't become tentative. 30 seconds later he was letting his hands go and came out in the next few rounds and took back control of the center of ring.

- That not even including his grit in the Corley and Hatton fights, nor his standing in front of guys like Canelo, Cotto, etc

This is the problem with a lot of these Mayweather fantasy fight conversations. Some of y'all underestimate the dude's will and fighting spirit.

Really, why makes you think Floyd Mayweather wouldn't bear down and do what he had to do against Hearns like SRL did? It might not work, but there is nothing to suggest he wouldn't go all out for the W or use his ring IQ to find a way to compete.

Floyd Mayweather ain't no punk, mayne. People need to stop that. Dude is an Olympian, comes from a family of fighters and was literally raised in the ring. You don't become an ATG and stay undefeated this long by fighting to 'not get hurt' or having a heart that pumps koolaid.

I used to hear this same type of isht about RJJ, right up until Alton Merkerson told him he needed those last 2 rounds against Tarver I and RJJ went out there, gritted his teeth and got them. Hell, they used to say it about Ray Leonard, prior to the Duran I.

Mayweather might not win, and it's definitely a tough stylistic matchup for him, but there is no basis to believe he'd 'fight scared'.

You're entitled to your opinion.

In my opinion, it's absolutely laughable to suggest that he'd have fought a prime Tommy Hearns at WW.

I don't care if he had to overcome adversity against Judah and Shane.

I don't care what he did with Canelo and Hatton.

Tommy Hearns was a freak of nature, and there is a world of difference between fighting him and a faded version of Shane etc.

What makes me think that Floyd wouldn't have bared down and done what Ray did?

It's a fantasy.

You seriously think Floyd would have gritted his teeth and tried to fight Tommy Hearns like Ray did?

Ha!

I'm sorry, but that's just crazy.

Look at my previous post.

Look at how he's behaved? Look at what he's pulled with Manny, JMM, Canelo and Maidana etc.

Again, I have to respect your opinion. You're entitled to it. But a guy who's carried himself like Floyd has over the last 10 years or so, would never have fought Tonmy in my opinion.

It's just too silly to even contemplate.

[Scipio2009]

Theoretically, yes, his stats are similar and he could have tried to carry out the same plan.

Theoretically.

But how about realistically?

This is what a few people are overlooking.

Their will and their difference in styles.

Would Floyd have been willing to fight Tommy, and would he have been willing to adopt that same strategy?

Many legendary trainers over the years, have stated that boxing is more mental than physical. And I agree with that.

Look at Floyd's actions over the years:

The whole Pac saga. Suddenly on a crusade to clean up the sport of boxing after 13 years as a pro. Arguing over cut off days, when there was zero evidence of any wrongdoing, with nobody else at the time having an issue fighting Manny.

Refusing the Oscar rematch, even though at every available opportunity he spoke of how he was in the cheque cashing business.

The CW against JMM that he purposely ignored, even though he's never had any issues making weight.

The unnecessary CW with Canelo, after originally telling the media how he didn't care what Canelo weighed on fight night.

The glove incident with Maidana.

The I.V. scandal, insisting to everyone that he was severely dehydrated for the Pac fight.

All the holidays and retirements he took at convenient times.


Are those the actions of a guy who would have signed to fight a peak Tommy Hearns at WW, facing enormous physical disadvantages?

Are those the actions of a guy who would have fought Tommy in the same way that Benitez did?

You're entitled to your opinion, but in my opinion, I'm going to say no way.

There's no way he'd have taken the fight.

I think Floyd's somewhat egomaniacal belief that he's the best fighter to ever put on a pair of glove is legit and, if a fighter is put in the ring with him, he would find a way to beat anyone that's put in there with him. Whether that'd be reality is a different conversation, but, in his mind and his his spirit, that's where Floyd puts himself (though he has seemingly put the caveat at there being some absolute size where he's not as confident).

-Floyd wanted the Pacquiao fight in 2010; the only caveat, after Pacquiao simply walked through everything that Miguel Cotto could offer, seemingly without flinching(an outcome that had more than just Floyd thinking "WTF?", was that both fighters be subjected to random blood/urine testing through camp. The fact that such a request(as apparently the only term that Floyd fought Arum on) lead to so many years of 'smoke and mirrors' (fear of needles, giving blood making Pacquiao week, no need to give beyond the bare minimum, not stopping a single fighter since then, etc) casts more doubt on Pacquiao then anything.

-Floyd fought Oscar for what ended up being 25/75, fought Ricky Hatton for what ended up being 45/55, and then chose to leave the sport(in a move that also led to him growing his casual audience profile to a ridiculous extent; being in one of the main events at Wrestlemania and showing his personally on DWTS brought more awareness to him than an Oscar rematch). You add that negotaitions would've been a pain (even after losing to Floyd, Oscar still got 75/25 on the split for his final big fight; Floyd wouldn't have bent over after knocking off Oscar, full stop).

-If you earnestly believe that Floyd beat Marquez because he came in at 147, there's no need to even talk about the fight.

-Floyd only took the fight to 152 because Alvarez(before any negotiations began) already gave Floyd 152. Why would Floyd willfully give away anything to anyone?

-The "glove incident" only happened because an issue popped up with the custom MX gloves(gloves that the Nevada commission even threw out, in case you forgot); once the gloves became a new negotiating point, Floyd pulled out the donkey **** and let everyone know who was calling the shot.

-The "IV scandal" was a hit piece crafted up by a paid HBO hitman, attempting to besmirch Floyd's name while going after USADA without any actual evidence; note how the story died within weeks of being pushed (yet Hauser never even thought about investigating the repercussions of "Pacquiao's shoulder injury" and that actual fallout).

[Sweet Jones]

You're entitled to your opinion.

In my opinion, it's absolutely laughable that he'd have fought a prime Tommy Hearns at WW.

I don't care if he had to overcome adversity against Judah and Shane.

I don't care what he did with Canelo and Hatton.

Tommy Hearns was a freak of nature, and there is a world of difference between fighting him and a faded version of Shane etc.

What makes me think that Floyd wouldn't have bared down and done what Ray did?

It's a fantasy.

You seriously think Floyd would have gritted his teeth and tried to fight Tommy Hearns like Ray did?

Ha!

I'm sorry, but that's just crazy.

Look at my previous post.

Look at how he's behaved? Look at what he's pulled with Manny, JMM, Canelo and Maidana etc.

Again, I have to respect your opinion. You're entitled to it. But a guy who's carried himself like Floyd has over the last 10 years or so, would never have fought Tonmy in my opinion.

It's just too silly to even contemplate.

And that's the difference between us when discussing how PBF would respond: my 'opinion' is based on in-ring observable actions under similar situations over the course of a 20 year career, and your 'opinion' ignores all that and appears to be driven by emotions due to feeling some kind of way based on alleged out-of-ring stuff.

But hey, you're entitled to your opinion too.