Comments Thread For: Terry Norris: A Few in My Era Would Beat Mayweather - Including Me!

[daggum]

I know the Judah answer you received doesn't fit your agenda but Judah was a slick fighter.

So what slick fighter did FMJ avoid? Whether you like him or not, he was a boxer that never needed a tune up to fight anybody.

HBO and Mayweather promoter Bob Arum prefer that he take a higher-profile, more competitive fight, ideally vs. former two-time champ Stevie Johnston. But Mayweather and his manager, James Prince, have balked.

HBO took exception to the offer of faded ex-featherweight champ Alejandro Gonzalez and rejected him.

"No one can communicate with Floyd," Arum said. "It's like talking to the wall. I said 'Fight Stevie Johnston.' Floyd said, 'I don't want to fight him. He's a bum.' "

Arum said it was "likely" HBO would simply bench Mayweather and give his date away instead of arguing over opponents. "They're not going to put up with this much longer," he said.

James Prince and I spoke, and he told me that was the fight they didn't want."

[Lester Tutor]

HBO and Mayweather promoter Bob Arum prefer that he take a higher-profile, more competitive fight, ideally vs. former two-time champ Stevie Johnston. But Mayweather and his manager, James Prince, have balked.

HBO took exception to the offer of faded ex-featherweight champ Alejandro Gonzalez and rejected him.

"No one can communicate with Floyd," Arum said. "It's like talking to the wall. I said 'Fight Stevie Johnston.' Floyd said, 'I don't want to fight him. He's a bum.' "

Arum said it was "likely" HBO would simply bench Mayweather and give his date away instead of arguing over opponents. "They're not going to put up with this much longer," he said.

James Prince and I spoke, and he told me that was the fight they didn't want."

So that whole narrative proves Judah wasn't a slick fighter? nice.

[rrayvez]

Terry Norris, was what Amir Khan is today, fast hands, good power & glass jaw. I mentioned before that Mayweather's only flaw is that he lacks power so a fight with yKhan would be interesting b/c Khan has reach, speed & power that could give Floyd, well, a run for his Money.

while I understand the comparison, norris was light years better than khan. Not even close.

[rongizzle]

All these ex fighters always say they would've beaten Floyd. SMH...truth is they only would've had a puncher's chance like everyone else. Terrible Terry Norris was a beast but a young Floyd May weather would've beat him. Sweet Pea, Tommy Yearns, and Paul Williams are the only fighters that could've beaten Floyd. Maybe Sergio Martinez on a good day.

[Zaroku]

I don't know for sure, but I think Norris would lose. He'd get chin checked.

[jvsnypes]

I am a huge fan of Terry Norris. I don't know about the other fighters he is referring to in his era, but I have always said that Terry would beat Floyd. As great as Floyd is defensively, Terry is parallel to that offensively. The only thing that keeps him out of the category of Leonard, Duran, and Hagler is his suspect chin. That would not be a problem facing a smaller light hitter like Floyd. Terry was a monster, a total beast in the ring who not only wanted a KO, but sometimes wanted to do serious damage to his opponents. His complete skill level is second to no fighter, including Floyd. He had speed in hand and foot, and was very versatile. He could fight on the inside and also get on his toes, Ali style, and attack from the outside. He had KO power in both hands and threw every punch in the book very well. This would not be a good match up for Floyd at all. His only advantage against Terry would be his ring IQ, but against that type of gifted fighter with those type of abilities, his IQ would only keep him from getting KO'd. I already know that this new era of fans could never visualize this, but go back and look at Norris in his prime. He was the total package. Ferocious and fearless, Floyd would not have anything in his arsenal to keep him off of him. Floyd has never fought a bigger fighter than himself that had such a consistent pinpoint jab. Terry had the skillset to force Floyd to come to him if he chose. Actually, I think Terry was more dangerous when he was on his toes dancing, boxing and throwing those viscious combinations. By no means is this discrediting Floyd or his accomplishments. But please go back and watch the man!!! Terrible Terry Norris was the TRUTH, and at his best, there are not a lot of fighters that could beat him. There is not one fighter from 147 to 160 in this era that I can see beating Terry. Not only not beating him, there aren't too many that would see the final bell against him. He was the definition of what a fighter should be.

[Dip_Slide]

Floyd was never a true 154 pounder, he fought there for the right money, fighters at that time were even bigger than fighters today and most of the good 154 pounders at that era like Norris, McCallum, Jackson, Graham and so on eventually moved up, some even reached 168 and 175, these guys were naturally much bigger than Floyd and if Floyd lost to any of them then it wouldn't be such an upset. Duran, Hagler, Leonard and Hearns didn't fight the best when these guys where around for a reason and they're all bigger than Floyd.

The jump from 147 to 154 is a big one plus you wear bigger gloves. Floyd's natural size is 130-140 lbs and if you wanna make hypothetical matches involving him and past fighters then they should be around that weight too.

[Lester Tutor]

Looks like Norris did Abel a favor after receiving that $40 bucks via PayPal after Floyd criticized and shut down Abel. Norris can't defend Abel against Ward or RJJ criticism

[turnedup]

Maidana used this gameplan against floyd and still came up a bit short.....

Maidana is unorthodox with his punches, many of which telegraph. Norris was a heck of a lot more refined and considerably faster than Maidana so you can't technically compare the two. Different gifts.

[Dip_Slide]

HBO and Mayweather promoter Bob Arum prefer that he take a higher-profile, more competitive fight, ideally vs. former two-time champ Stevie Johnston. But Mayweather and his manager, James Prince, have balked.

HBO took exception to the offer of faded ex-featherweight champ Alejandro Gonzalez and rejected him.

"No one can communicate with Floyd," Arum said. "It's like talking to the wall. I said 'Fight Stevie Johnston.' Floyd said, 'I don't want to fight him. He's a bum.' "

Arum said it was "likely" HBO would simply bench Mayweather and give his date away instead of arguing over opponents. "They're not going to put up with this much longer," he said.

James Prince and I spoke, and he told me that was the fight they didn't want."

So Stevie Johnston is a slick world beater now? This article is in 2002 when Floyd was trying to find his first 135 lbs opponent and guess what, Floyd fought the guy that beat Johnston and was the lineal champion and that was Castillo, who did Johnston beat at the top level? nobody.

Floyd was even considering fighting Freitas at 130 who was coming off the biggest win of his career and go read what Freitas' promoter said about that fight, it's in the same article by the way.

Bottom line, in Floyd's prime (till 2007), there were not to many legit slick fighters that were available for him, Stevie Johnston was supposed to be a tune up for Floyd before the Castillo fight (read the article) and Floyd went straight for the champion. They said Genaro Hernandez was very skilled, tall, quick and slick, he got stopped, they said Sharmba Mitchell was fast and slick, he got stopped, they said Zab Judah, he lost, Shane Mosley, lost. If Floyd would've fought Margarito instead of Judah, you would've said he ducked Judah.