Who trained Floyd Mayweather Sr?

[ShoulderRoll]

I'm trying to research who got that family started in boxing and where the roots of their distinctive style of mitt work might come from. Any of you guys have further info?



Jeff Mayweather had this to say in an interview on Fight Hype:

"A guy named Dale Williams, and there was another guy named Mitch something, I can't ever think of his last name, but there were two trainers in Kalamazoo where Floyd Sr. was a part of that camp. They had Jeremiah Watkins, Big Floyd, Vonzell Johnson; Big Floyd was a part of that stable in Kalamazoo. I can't think of the guy who had all of those fighters, but those are the guys who actually taught Floyd Sr. that style."


This is from an interview Floyd Sr did with Chip Mitchell:

"My style ain't like nobody else, man. Its so many different things I do. I was trained by a real good trainer named Darryl Williams. It's been so long ago that he's passed now. I learned so much being trained by him, even though he was an older man then."


Here Sr mentions that Williams was 69 or 70 at the time, and that he was from Detroit:

[Ray Corso]

D. Williams worked out of Kalamazoo Mich. at a PAL club and a small gym
downtown Kally, the name avades me know but I'll think of it.
What Floyd is talking about is nothuing knew now or then. All the old step in the bucket trainers taught that same technique, ALL of them!
Watch Archie Moore and you'll see that and more!
The break up of that still is to dig left hooks inside and turn them into upper cuts but Floyd Jr. lets his lead right go before opponents get off. He picks opponents he knows don't know how to bust him. If you watch him panic and
get frustrated by Maidanas over hand right chopping him down into the roll before he wanted to.
Maidana didn't have the tools to follow up with the chopping right hand if he did he could have beated Floyd.
The "Shoulder Roll" is nothing new its been around for years and many old style fighters who didn't have coordination to move laterally were taught to step and slide and use that Philly shell for defense & offense.
Defense first followed by counter punching. These days little Floyd uses it first and only counters with one shot. He will not trade with anyone, his legs are not what they used to be.
Ray

[Anthony342]

Interesting stuff. And also, why are so few of Floyd Sr.'s fights available out there? I've only ever seen his stoppage loss to Sugar Ray Leonard.

[sonnyboyx2]

Interesting stuff. And also, why are so few of Floyd Sr.'s fights available out there? I've only ever seen his stoppage loss to Sugar Ray Leonard.

there are so few fights available because Floyd Sr. was not a top fighter. He was very mediocre to say the least. His record is as padded as it gets, he fought club-fighters with more defeats on their resume than victories. Floyd Sr. never fought in big arena's or on big fight show's in Vegas. he was never in the same league as his brother Roger "Black Mamba" Mayweather..

[Ray Corso]

He fought Starling twice after Leonard so there might be film on that. He lost big against Starling and never fought top tier guys again. He was not on Rogers level but he was a clear cut above Jeff.
Floyd Sr. came to fight for the most part but at the end he was shucking and grabbing and getting through. He fought for ten years with some time out here and there. At his best he did well, he was pretty strong and had some pop.
Ray

[ShoulderRoll]

D. Williams worked out of Kalamazoo Mich. at a PAL club and a small gym
downtown Kally, the name avades me know but I'll think of it.

Thanks for that, Ray. If you do remember the name of the gym I'd appreciate it if you post it here.

And I am aware that the style was nothing new, just trying to get an idea of the training lineage that the Mayweathers might have come from. They didn't invent anything but at the same time they do deserve credit for preserving that knowledge and carrying it on into the modern era.

With so much of boxing from the old days becoming a lost art it's nice to still have a glimpse of what used to be.

[Suckmedry]

Its coincidence that guys with that old school nuances and tricks like floyd, toney, and ward do so well today

floyd is still one of my favourite fighters. he does things that are just so amazing.

[billeau2]

Its coincidence that guys with that old school nuances and tricks like floyd, toney, and ward do so well today

floyd is still one of my favourite fighters. he does things that are just so amazing.

Regionally there was a lot of that technique used in michigan. Toney and Floyd are from that area. Roger Mayweather when lucid mentions this connection and it makes sense. A lot of technically gifted fighters are from that area. One of my favorites is Michael Moore.

originally guys like archie moore were great at using a type of shoulder roll to react when punches were coming and not wanting to just back off... You see the same technique in karate actually from Riley hawkins.

being that hawkins is from Baltimore and guys like Moore developed the techique I bet it has a common point of origin somewhere and that it spread to differnt areas and was reinterpreted to suite the styles of different fighters

[ShoulderRoll]

Chris Eubank Jr was recently in the Mayweather camp for the McGregor fight and had high praise for Floyd Sr's old school training acumen:







"But when asked about working with Mayweather Snr, he said: “I have to consider it.

“He's only going to be around for a certain amount of time and then that's it, you're never going to get it again.

“Now I want to take advantage of Mayweather Senior's advice as much as possible and get as much time training with him as I can before he packs it in.

“I've done pads with a million and one people and nobody comes close to what he can do with those pads. I've never seen anybody else do it.

“I'm aching after a pad session with Floyd and I don't know he does it.

“I'm 27 years old, in the prime of my life and one of the fastest fighters on the planet and he's right there with me keeping up with everything, at his age. It's amazing, I don't know how he does it.”

http://www.boxingscene.com/chris-eub...her-sr--120015