Article exposes flaws in Mayweather's game

[SuckaPunch]

Tuesday, September 22, 2009
The Man to Beat Floyd Mayweather Jr....

Jeff Pryor takes a look at what it will take to beat Floyd Mayweather, and who might be the man to do it.

Against a smaller, older, slower, lighter punching man in his last bout, Mayweather looked virtually unbeatable. However like all fighters, he is not invincible.

Even for all his world class athletic attributes there are areas to exploit against Mayweather, it is a credit to his skill and choice in opponents that no fighter he has faced has yet had exactly the right tools to take advantage of the *****s in his armor.

So, what is there to exploit you ask? First off, Floyd pulls straight back. His Fred Astaire feet make him hard to reach and his right glove is usually by his chin... but he pulls straight back. And his left hand is forever dangling at his waist when he does it. The shorter, slower man, with much less reach, Marquez was able to clip him a number of times as Mayweather pulled back.

Secondly Mayweather still allows himself to get caught on the ropes at times. Whether bravado, break taking or a comfort zone, when Floyd's back is on the ropes he is far less effective than when he can escape out the back door and move freely. Marquez landed some of his cleanest blows while Floyd languished on the threads. Delahoya too, was allowed to **** away and score significant blows with Mayweather back on his heels and hemmed in.

Third, his style is almost entirely based on reflex and speed. Those leaping left hooks that first caught Marquez off guard, rarely landed as the fight went on. Juan Manuel didn't have the speed to do more than dodge them once he had the timing figured, but no matter how fast, leaping in with shots like Floyd does is dangerous business and one well timed blow could change a fight seemingly in hand.

Lastly there is the matter of volume. Mayweather is economical and though his speed tends to make opponents think twice about letting their hands go, he can be outworked. The trick is getting that output to land (see above).

With those points in mind, there are several fighters within Mayweathers own weight class who would provide a true litmus test for Mayweathers unbeaten record...

(to keep reading)

[illmaticfighter]

floyd fights every fight different.

[UnDeniable]

floyd fights every fight different.

What i was going to say

I've seen Floyd use different punches against different opponents, he sometimes pumps the jab, sometimes leads with hooks or straights, he fights inside or outside and can pull the high guard, shoulder roll or fight ofg the ropes

Floyd has one weakness..his inactivity and thats why Williams would beat him

[da chosen 1]

Floyd has one weakness..his inactivity

i also say this,

[MoneyMay1]

Tuesday, September 22, 2009
The Man to Beat Floyd Mayweather Jr....

Jeff Pryor takes a look at what it will take to beat Floyd Mayweather, and who might be the man to do it.

Against a smaller, older, slower, lighter punching man in his last bout, Mayweather looked virtually unbeatable. However like all fighters, he is not invincible.

Even for all his world class athletic attributes there are areas to exploit against Mayweather, it is a credit to his skill and choice in opponents that no fighter he has faced has yet had exactly the right tools to take advantage of the *****s in his armor.

So, what is there to exploit you ask? First off, Floyd pulls straight back. His Fred Astaire feet make him hard to reach and his right glove is usually by his chin... but he pulls straight back. And his left hand is forever dangling at his waist when he does it. The shorter, slower man, with much less reach, Marquez was able to clip him a number of times as Mayweather pulled back.

Secondly Mayweather still allows himself to get caught on the ropes at times. Whether bravado, break taking or a comfort zone, when Floyd's back is on the ropes he is far less effective than when he can escape out the back door and move freely. Marquez landed some of his cleanest blows while Floyd languished on the threads. Delahoya too, was allowed to **** away and score significant blows with Mayweather back on his heels and hemmed in.

Third, his style is almost entirely based on reflex and speed. Those leaping left hooks that first caught Marquez off guard, rarely landed as the fight went on. Juan Manuel didn't have the speed to do more than dodge them once he had the timing figured, but no matter how fast, leaping in with shots like Floyd does is dangerous business and one well timed blow could change a fight seemingly in hand.

Lastly there is the matter of volume. Mayweather is economical and though his speed tends to make opponents think twice about letting their hands go, he can be outworked. The trick is getting that output to land (see above).

With those points in mind, there are several fighters within Mayweathers own weight class who would provide a true litmus test for Mayweathers unbeaten record...

(to keep reading)

This seems to be pretty accurate, although I'm a member of the "Mayweather Mafia" if you choose to call it that. The only issue I have is: did this really need to be said? Any serious boxing observer with a keen eye can see this in all his fights. That being said, can anyone exploit it? Let's take Zab Judah for instance. When Judah fought Tszyu several years ago, Zab landed a clean left uppercut when his back was against the ropes in round 1. Tszyu, who was momentarily stunned but not seriously hurt, backed straight up against the much quicker Judah, who immediately closed that gap and began swinging wildly. Thus proving that if Kostya Tszyu was to beat Zab, then he COULD NOT back straight up, as doing so against a speedy opponent like Zab could put you to sleep.

Let's jump ahead in time to the Mayweather-Judah fight. On a few occasions (especially in the earlier rounds) Zab seemed to connect and as previously mentioned Floyd backed straight up. Judah immediately closed the gap, as he had done with Tszyu, but was unable to land anything effective after the initial sequence. What that tells me is even though Floyd has this bad habit, it takes something more than just the element of speed to exploit it. I think the argument could be made that Zab is nearly as quick as even the quickest welters including Pac, and Mosley. So if Zab couldn't break the defense what makes you think Pac and Mosley could? I agree that Pac and Mosley are probably better fighters than Zab, but we're not discussing who is more complete, we are simply discussing how to land effective blows when Floyd is moving straight back.

Also, I think most people agree that the place to beat Floyd IS NOT in the center of the ring. When his jab is working and he throws his quick straight right immediately afterwards and dances away, it's very hard if not impossible to find him. So although the blueprint which "exposes Floyd's flaws" may be somewhat correct, in my opinion the "flaw blueprint" is flawed.

[hugh grant]

Floyd didnt risk the possibility he might suffer ring rust, so he chose someone to step up in weight who wouldnt be sharp at the new weight, therefore couldnt take advantage of the ring rust.
It would have taken speed and sharpness to expose the rust.

[tito yuca]

This article is bull****, if those are Floyd's "flaws" then he's got nothing to worry about.

"Mayweather still allows himself to get caught on the ropes at times."

OF COURSE he will get caught "at times", this is boxing, it's impossible to go 12 rounds and not get hit even once. He's obviously better in the middle of the ring, but even when he's in the corners he evades most of his opponents shots. If the worst thing you can say about a fighter is that he gets caught "at times", that guy is obviously doing a great job.

"Third, his style is almost entirely based on reflex and speed."

How is that a flaw? Those reflexes and speed allow him to rarely ever get hit. If by this the writer means that he's not too fundamentally sound, then he's a total fool, because Floyd dominates all aspects of the sweet science.

Like many people have said, the only close thing to a flaw that Floyd has is that he's too inactive. The best example of this is the Oscar fight. Judges gave Oscar rounds that even though Floyd outlanded him in, he only threw half the punches Oscar did. Having an opponent throw so many punches, even if they don't land, leaves an impression on the judges that the other guy is controlling the fight, even when he isn't. This shouldn't be the case, because judges are supposed to award rounds based on EFFECTIVE aggression, but if he throws 35 punches and lands 15, and the opponent throws 80 (even if only 10 land), he probably won't get the round.

[MoneyMay1]

This article is bull****, if those are Floyd's "flaws" then he's got nothing to worry about.

"Mayweather still allows himself to get caught on the ropes at times."

OF COURSE he will get caught "at times", this is boxing, it's impossible to go 12 rounds and not get hit even once. He's obviously better in the middle of the ring, but even when he's in the corners he evades most of his opponents shots. If the worst thing you can say about a fighter is that he gets caught "at times", that guy is obviously doing a great job.

"Third, his style is almost entirely based on reflex and speed."

How is that a flaw? Those reflexes and speed allow him to rarely ever get hit. If by this the writer means that he's not too fundamentally sound, then he's a total fool, because Floyd dominates all aspects of the sweet science.

Like many people have said, the only close thing to a flaw that Floyd has is that he's too inactive. The best example of this is the Oscar fight. Judges gave Oscar rounds that even though Floyd outlanded him in, he only threw half the punches Oscar did. Having an opponent throw so many punches, even if they don't land, leaves an impression on the judges that the other guy is controlling the fight, even when he isn't. This shouldn't be the case, because judges are supposed to award rounds based on EFFECTIVE aggression, but if he throws 35 punches and lands 15, and the opponent throws 80 (even if only 10 land), he probably won't get the round.

Very well written. I especially agreed with the part about inactivity. Most judges aren't great at discerning which punches land and which don't, they are mostly good at simply counting punches. Floyd has lost several rounds that he should have won if accuracy was the criteria being scored, but he usually throws less punches per round than his opponent.

[tito yuca]

I'd also like to add that this article comes after Floyd's first fight followin a TWO-YEAR layoff, and he's still FAR superior to all other fighters out there. Even when they are talking about Floyd's "flaws" he looks better than the rest.

[MoneyMay1]

I'd also like to add that this article comes after Floyd's first fight followin a TWO-YEAR layoff, and he's still FAR superior to all other fighters out there. Even when they are talking about Floyd's "flaws" he looks better than the rest.

Very true. Although Marquez was indeed an underdog, most people prior to the fight felt that was a very live underdog.