Why didnt fighters ever fight Floyd on the back foot and make him lead?

[Johnny2x2x]

LOL, you don't sit back and box Floyd. Fighting off your back foot is essentially asking to match your speed and reflexes with his. You lose. You pressure him and try to rough him up. Only two who came close to beating him fought really rough in maidana and Castillo. But Floyd is a lot tougher than people think and he survived those fights and beat them more clearly in the rematches.

[b00g13man]

Floyd was versatile enough to lead if he had to.

[Pesk]

Floyd vs. Cotto Round 6.

You could tell Floyd was out of his comfort zone and kind of amazed that someone was actually putting some counters on him at least for a round I guess it had been a long time before he had to do that.

[madsweeney]

Lets be real, that's what Manny did and he lost because of it. Not because he was unsuccessful, but because the mentality "oh Manny's not throwing 1000 punches, Floyds making him fight his game...ring generalship"

Floyd is highly disciplined in the ring and is not afraid to stink up the place while his opponents (who are usually come-forward, aggressive fighters) do care about stinking up the place.

[djtmal]

So he didn't fight Oscar Delahoya, Shane Mosley, Philip Ndou, Gennaro Hernandes, and Diego Corrales?

none of those guys imo qualify as pure boxers..those guys either rarely used a jab,or just pawed with it...

guys who could have forced Floyd to come forward and Floyd would have actually would have had to go through the s**tstorm, to get the win, would have been:

hearns
srl
forrest
khan
Norris
Trinidad
williams

[Tom Cruise]

Because that is playing into his hands and it gives him the time and space he needs to use his ridiculously deep skillset. You'd need to be an ATG outboxer to beat Mayweather that way, and there werent any around when he was fighting.

Canelo looked like a complete novice in there trying to box with Floyd.

[Dr Rumack]

The handspeed and accuracy advantage. He normally had the longer reach too, although that wasn't as significant as his timing. Look what happened to Mosley when he just sat there and let Floyd walk forward. Floyd lit him up.

[Dr Rumack]

Mayweather just never fought any real talent with that style. The guys capable were way past it in hoya and pacquiao one of which carries more of a pressuring demeanor.

Mayweather was probably the most legit outfighter of his era, that was his style. His best strategy for corrales and maidana was outboxing. Otherwise despite being average fighters they arguably beat him.

It would have taken a great jab to force Floyd to come forward in any way he wasn't comfortable with. If Oscar was prime enough to pump his jab for 8-10 rounds that fight would have been real interesting.

He just didn't come up against a guy who had that killer jab. Cotto did well with it but he was too shopworn to keep his foot on the gas for the whole distance. And Shane didn't have his speed anymore.

[FeFist]

Because they couldn't.

He typically has a greater reach which means they need to step within his range to land their offence. His reflexes are superb which means he can time them on their way in. His boxing IQ is high which means they can't get a favourable angle on him. His balance and footwork is great which means he can easily back off if they try and bait him in. He has/had a good lead left hook which makes it harder to feel comfortable on the outside due to how unpredictable he is/was.

[Xi_]

You cant outbox tbe/floyd for 12 rds.