By CompuBox

Shakur Stevenson put on a masterful defensive performance Saturday night vs. Joet Gonzalez, winning a vacant version of the Featherweight title in the process.  Stevenson's performance immediately brought out comparisons to Floyd Mayweather.  CompuBox compared the stats from Stevenson's 9th thru 13th fights (his last 5) to those of Floyd Mayweather's from his 9th thru 13th fights. 

The results? Floyd has the better plus/minus rating-* at +18.2, compared to Shakur's +17.6.  Why? Because Floyd was the more effective offensive fighter, landing 41.2% of his total punches, compared to 32.6% for Stevenson. (Floyd was also busier, throwing 54.8 punches per round to 43.2 for Stevenson).  Stevenson plays better D, as opponents landed just 15% of their total punches, compared to 23% for Floyd's opponents. 

Floyd's opponents higher connect pct. can be attributed to his more aggressive offensive style (he threw 12 more punches per round than Shakur).  Stevenson opponents landed just 5.3 punches per round compared to Floyd's opponents 6.2 landed per round. 

Neither got hit with the jab, while opponents landed 18.8% of their power punches vs. Stevenson, compared to 27.4% for Floyd's opponents.  Mayweather's opponents had a combined record of 63-50-8 (52.1% win pct.), while Stevenson's opponents had a combined record of 117-8-1 (92.9% win pct.).  (*- plus/minus determined by subtracting opponents connect pct from that of Mayweather/Stevenson)

Mayweather Compubox