You have to bet your life on one fighter to beat Floyd Mayweather

[billeau2]

I was genuinely delightfully taken aback because I didn't expect anyone to actually call me sir.

I really appreciated the post and maybe calling you a smart ass wasn't the right phrase to convey that but I thought you were being cheeky with the sir for levity. My thanks was genuine.

two of my favorite posters... and they both feature the same bloke as their avatar! Coincidence?

[Mugwump]

Any elite-level southpaw with a persistent scoring jab should give Floyd problems - especially late in his career.

[Rusty Tromboni]

Any elite-level southpaw with a persistent scoring jab should give Floyd problems - especially late in his career.

nice. that's the blueprint.

[Dempsey19]

SRR (Hearns is a close 2nd tho)

[P4P Forever]

SRR Lenord Hearns Pernell Witiker, Arrron pryor

[Mugwump]

Floyd is unquestionably one of the finest boxers of his generation. But the notion that he's "unbeatable" is largely the product of media spin doctors combined with ignorant fanboys who know little to nothing about the *craft* of boxing.

When you get older it's very easy to fall into the trap of thinking that everything was "better in my day". I've done it myself on occasions too many to mention and had to check myself.

However, age gives you ... perspective and provided you are wary of the dangers of nostalgia you are less likely to become a "prisoner of the moment".

With this in mind I have to say that the last twenty years have been an *abysmal* period for the sport of boxing purely in terms of SKILL. For a slew of complicated reasons fighters today seem so devoid of the basic fundamentals that they might as well be competing in a completely different sport.

It's not that we have belt-holders today who don't even have a competent jab, head movement, the ability to slip a punch etc. These flaws are endemic throughout the sport!

I mean, right now the heavyweight division is undergoing something of a "renaissance" after over a decade of stagnation since the retirements of Lewis, Holyfield and even Bowe (with all his flaws). And yet two out of the three "shining lights" (Joshua and Wilder) are so flawed in terms of skill it's unreal. At times Wilder looks like a guy who learned his craft purely from watching bad boxing movies and very often his punches end up in a different time zone to his opponent's chin. Meanwhile Joshua (whilst unquestionably heavy-handed and brave) looks like his feet are on rails and if he ever moved his head to slip a punch it would be for the first time in his life! It's a measure of just how dire this situation has become that a guy with manifest issues of his own (Fury) looks like Ali in comparison. I mean, I give Fury credit in that he is the only one of them who has bothered to invest time and energy in the fundamentals of the sport. But he's a lone voice crying in the wilderness really.

Whilst Floyd, at least in the early parts of his career, hasn't faced quite so limited opponents - he has unquestionably benefited from receiving correct training from an early age and he is currently reaping the rewards against a succession of opponents who either don't know or don't care that he's just a man. And all men have weaknesses.

During the last ... say ... eight years of his career Floyd's weaknesses were his hands and his unwillingness or inability to fight at full throttle for twelve rounds. Anyone with half a brain should realise that attempting to outwork Floyd with anything other than a strong and repetitive jab and solid defence is utterly pointless. If you go to the body he's going to tie you up. If you attempt to load up with power shots he's going to counter you ... and then tie you up.

Whilst Floyd has the ability to flip to plan B, C, D and so forth - his comfort zone is plan A - stealing rounds with three or four crisp counters and then retreating tortoise-like into his shell where he is largely impregnable.

You beat Floyd by drumming a staccato series of scoring jabs into his face minute after minute whilst forgoing power shots almost completely for at least the first five or six rounds. A southpaw has the best chance because of Floyd's defensive geometry. But it's possible to have success from the orthodox stance.

The last thing Floyd wants is to be four or five rounds down to an opponent who only wishes to stay on the outside and refuses to close distance.

But how many fighters today possess a crisp scoring jab and the ability to slip the counter? How many fighters today have the *discipline* to stay on the outside for so long when every inch of their instinct is telling them to play to the cameras and become embroiled in slugfest?

I'm not blaming Floyd here. He deserves all of the respect he's afforded because he's invested his life in understanding the intricacies of the sport.

But whilst he may well have been as successful twenty, thirty or fifty years ago - there were fighters with sufficient smarts to exploit his weaknesses rather than putting themselves at the disadvantage of playing to his strengths.

[Rusty Tromboni]

Floyd is unquestionably one of the finest boxers of his generation. But the notion that he's "unbeatable" is largely the product of media spin doctors combined with ignorant fanboys who know little to nothing about the *craft* of boxing.

When you get older it's very easy to fall into the trap of thinking that everything was "better in my day". I've done it myself on occasions too many to mention and had to check myself.

However, age gives you ... perspective and provided you are wary of the dangers of nostalgia you are less likely to become a "prisoner of the moment".

With this in mind I have to say that the last twenty years have been an *abysmal* period for the sport of boxing purely in terms of SKILL. For a slew of complicated reasons fighters today seem so devoid of the basic fundamentals that they might as well be competing in a completely different sport.

It's not that we have belt-holders today who don't even have a competent jab, head movement, the ability to slip a punch etc. These flaws are endemic throughout the sport!

I mean, right now the heavyweight division is undergoing something of a "renaissance" after over a decade of stagnation since the retirements of Lewis, Holyfield and even Bowe (with all his flaws). And yet two out of the three "shining lights" (Joshua and Wilder) are so flawed in terms of skill it's unreal. At times Wilder looks like a guy who learned his craft purely from watching bad boxing movies and very often his punches end up in a different time zone to his opponent's chin. Meanwhile Joshua (whilst unquestionably heavy-handed and brave) looks like his feet are on rails and if he ever moved his head to slip a punch it would be for the first time in his life! It's a measure of just how dire this situation has become that a guy with manifest issues of his own (Fury) looks like Ali in comparison. I mean, I give Fury credit in that he is the only one of them who has bothered to invest time and energy in the fundamentals of the sport. But he's a lone voice crying in the wilderness really.

Whilst Floyd, at least in the early parts of his career, hasn't faced quite so limited opponents - he has unquestionably benefited from receiving correct training from an early age and he is currently reaping the rewards against a succession of opponents who either don't know or don't care that he's just a man. And all men have weaknesses.

During the last ... say ... eight years of his career Floyd's weaknesses were his hands and his unwillingness or inability to fight at full throttle for twelve rounds. Anyone with half a brain should realise that attempting to outwork Floyd with anything other than a strong and repetitive jab and solid defence is utterly pointless. If you go to the body he's going to tie you up. If you attempt to load up with power shots he's going to counter you ... and then tie you up.

Whilst Floyd has the ability to flip to plan B, C, D and so forth - his comfort zone is plan A - stealing rounds with three or four crisp counters and then retreating tortoise-like into his shell where he is largely impregnable.

You beat Floyd by drumming a staccato series of scoring jabs into his face minute after minute whilst forgoing power shots almost completely for at least the first five or six rounds. A southpaw has the best chance because of Floyd's defensive geometry. But it's possible to have success from the orthodox stance.

The last thing Floyd wants is to be four or five rounds down to an opponent who only wishes to stay on the outside and refuses to close distance.

But how many fighters today possess a crisp scoring jab and the ability to slip the counter? How many fighters today have the *discipline* to stay on the outside for so long when every inch of their instinct is telling them to play to the cameras and become embroiled in slugfest?

I'm not blaming Floyd here. He deserves all of the respect he's afforded because he's invested his life in understanding the intricacies of the sport.

But whilst he may well have been as successful twenty, thirty or fifty years ago - there were fighters with sufficient smarts to exploit his weaknesses rather than putting themselves at the disadvantage of playing to his strengths.

are you accepting fan mail?

[OctoberRed]

SRR (Hearns is a close 2nd tho)

Hearns in second? Bold pick.

[Dempsey19]

Hearns in second? Bold pick.

He is such a perfect option to beat Floyd, 5 inches of height advantage, 6 inches of reach, and a much harder punch than Iran Barkley who was still getting KOs against 250 pound men at heavyweight. And he wasn't glass-chinned either.

Floyd would be in a similar position to heavyweights who go up against the Klitschko brothers.

[Rspen46]

I think Hearns can be him, but if my Life depended on it, I want a guy with a great chin, so Duran for sure.