Did Mayweather Have Any Flaws in His Game?

[iamboxing]

I keep thinking about any flaws, I'm no boxing expert, and I can't think of a single one. Apart from physical injuries (brittle hands) later in his career, did he ever make mistakes in the ring? Any fights where he lost focus and slipped up?

[Vegemil]

He was at a level where you couldn't really pick up the flaws because nobody tested him enough. He was always able to adapt through any situation.

[Illmatic94]

If there's anything to nitpick is maybe how uncomfortable he is with a jab in his face. DLH, Maidana and Cotto were all snappping his head with jabs. had he fought Winky in 2005 like he was planning to he would've lost. if Oscar didn't gas out and abandon his jab he would've won too. other than that Floyd is the perfect boxer.

[Mike D]

I mean for a guy who went through a 49 fight career (I don't count the McGregor fight), there's going to be some bumps in the road, that's unavoidable, but all in all it was probably as flawless of a 49 fight career as it could be

That said, there's the infamous Castillo fight where he got out power-punched by some one hundred power shots, and out punched in total by some 50 shots...at least according to compubox (Lederman also had Castillo winning by 4 rds for whatever that's worth) and then there was the time when he was on queer street by Mosley (but to his credit he came back and dominated)

[LoadedWraps]

I keep thinking about any flaws, I'm no boxing expert, and I can't think of a single one. Apart from physical injuries (brittle hands) later in his career, did he ever make mistakes in the ring? Any fights where he lost focus and slipped up?

Balance mainly.

He sacrificed balance for power or reach depending on his shot, as a way to risk sneaking in straight rights among other things. Very small windows though, only Maidana and a few others could ever really punish him for openings.

No fighter is truly flawless from an impeccable standpoint. When we say "complete fighter" we mean they are both fundamentally near perfect, and there is no real weakness as far as acumen and fighting traits go. The beauty of boxing is that even despite this, anything can happen. As I like to say, this is why we watch.

[MasterPlan]

Everyone has flaws it's up to the opponent to find it and exploit it.

[Larry the boss]

When he threw his shots his chin would be in the air

He dropped his left hand when he threw the straight right

[COVID-19]

He always managed to smooth over his flaws with an ability to improvise. He never was predictable enough to pin down when someone found a way past his defence.

[billeau2]

I can't think of a single one. Apart from physical injuries (brittle hands) later in his career, what weakenesses did he have in the way he fought?

iamboxing. here is an interesting tale that has a moral to it. Sugar Ray Robinson loved dancing and singing. Those who saw him all had a similar opinion...He was not bad, but...he was no great talent to speak of. Well when asked about this supreme irony...the fact that he was the greatest fighter to many, and his yearnings he told a reporter point blank, "I don't really like to fight." Now digest that for a moment. Here is the sugar man, a man who fought guys that liked to fight so much, some of them would rather die in the ring than stop... saying essentially that as great as he was, it wasn't even the interest to him that other's had for the endevour.

We can qualify that as a weakness of sorts. If you cloned sugar Ray, and had two exact sugar rays fight with ONE modification...that being Sugar Ray #1 loved to get hit, loved to feel his hand against his opponent's brittle jaw, etc, versus Sugar Ray #2 who did not have the passion...who might win? LOL.

My point is that every fighter has weaknesses. Floyd's hands were one. I also think floyd had "sugar disease" and I don't mean diabetes. Mentally guys like Jones and Floyd prefered the easy win over the struggle. That could be a problem when facing an equally great opponent. This is one of the reasons I think if floyd fought an atg in his prime we would know a lot more about him. Manny would have been a great fight in their primes.

I think floyd was susceptable to pressure fighters...much like Jones was. Guys who would not go for the feints and come in and pressure continually. Madanna for example gave Floyd a hell of a time.

The closest to a perfect Floyd we have is at 130ish. At the lighter weights he was at his best IMO.

[billeau2]

He was at a level where you couldn't really pick up the flaws because nobody tested him enough. He was always able to adapt through any situation.

Very similar to Jones that way. He finally got tagged because Carver was so pissed he just walked right in, ignored the feints, got him back going towards the ropes and did not hesitate.