Thread: The art of Infighting is a lost art

That's all I have to say.

Who was the last then?

To be fair, Mayweather historically is one of the best and most effective infighters of all time. He just had no interest doing it vs. a very rough hard hitter like Maidana.

Originally Posted by Beanflicker

To be fair, Mayweather historically is one of the best and most effective infighters of all time. He just had no interest doing it vs. a very rough hard hitter like Maidana.

Just curious if you place Floyd on the same level as guys like Duran and Julio Ceasar Chavez (sr., of course!)? Floyd impressed me with his infighting ability vs Hatton, but I feel like he was ineffective vs Maidana and Castillo which is why he reverted to a more mobile style in both rematches. I'm not sure I would consider Floyd one of the greatest in fighters ever due to his performances in those fights, but the guy is definitely capable in my opinion.

Originally Posted by mikeeod

Just curious if you place Floyd on the same level as guys like Duran and Julio Ceasar Chavez (sr., of course!)? Floyd impressed me with his infighting ability vs Hatton, but I feel like he was ineffective vs Maidana and Castillo which is why he reverted to a more mobile style in both rematches. I'm not sure I would consider Floyd one of the greatest in fighters ever due to his performances in those fights, but the guy is definitely capable in my opinion.

If you look at effectiveness on the inside - damage done vs damage received - Mayweather is one of the greatest in-fighters there's ever been. In-fighting is not all about offensive, you have to factor in defence as well, and even now in his older age Floyd is probably the hardest guy to land clean on on the inside in the history of boxing.

I wouldn't put Floyd up with a true inside fighter because inside fighting is only one aspect of Floyd's game whereas real inside guys live and die on the inside, but in terms of stifling offence and landing his own accurate counter shots, Floyd has to be acknowledged as a truly great inside guy.

I'll say this too, and I know I'll get tons of people disagreeing with me: prime Floyd (130-140) gets the better of prime Duran (135) on the inside.

Originally Posted by Beanflicker

Originally Posted by mikeeod

Just curious if you place Floyd on the same level as guys like Duran and Julio Ceasar Chavez (sr., of course!)? Floyd impressed me with his infighting ability vs Hatton, but I feel like he was ineffective vs Maidana and Castillo which is why he reverted to a more mobile style in both rematches. I'm not sure I would consider Floyd one of the greatest in fighters ever due to his performances in those fights, but the guy is definitely capable in my opinion.

If you look at effectiveness on the inside - damage done vs damage received - Mayweather is one of the greatest in-fighters there's ever been. In-fighting is not all about offensive, you have to factor in defence as well, and even now in his older age Floyd is probably the hardest guy to land clean on on the inside in the history of boxing.

I wouldn't put Floyd up with a true inside fighter because inside fighting is only one aspect of Floyd's game whereas real inside guys live and die on the inside, but in terms of stifling offence and landing his own accurate counter shots, Floyd has to be acknowledged as a truly great inside guy.

I'll say this too, and I know I'll get tons of people disagreeing with me: prime Floyd (130-140) gets the better of prime Duran (135) on the inside.

Interesting post.
I do think Mayweather was a better fighter down at those weights than he is now but I wouldn't be wise of him to try to go on the inside against Duran. His best chance would be to box and stay on his bike.

Originally Posted by Manos de Piedra

Interesting post.
I do think Mayweather was a better fighter down at those weights than he is now but I wouldn't be wise of him to try to go on the inside against Duran. His best chance would be to box and stay on his bike.

Right, and when I say Mayweather would get the best of Duran on the inside, I'm not saying Floyd would win a Castillo/Corrales style fight against Duran where it's fought in a phone booth. That would favour Duran.

But if they fought prime for prime, I believe Floyd would have a lot easier shutting down Duran's inside offence then people would think.

yup, pay the ref to not allow infighting and u got it won!!! right floyd?? lol.

Originally Posted by #1FightFan

yup, pay the ref to not allow infighting and u got it won!!! right floyd?? lol.

That would be the only way to keep Duran off you. Get Kenny Bayless.

I have to say again, I don't feel Floyd is a great infighter. He is a slick guy and hard to hit inside, but not effective at slipping and breaking the other guy down on the level of a James Toney, Duran or Chavez. Those guys take u apart if u stand in front of them, even if u r much larger. Floyd is slick and versatile, but he isn't as dominant as those guys inside. That being said, I don't think those guys r as fast or able to control the outside like Floyd does either.

Originally Posted by Beanflicker

Originally Posted by Manos de Piedra

Interesting post.
I do think Mayweather was a better fighter down at those weights than he is now but I wouldn't be wise of him to try to go on the inside against Duran. His best chance would be to box and stay on his bike.

Right, and when I say Mayweather would get the best of Duran on the inside, I'm not saying Floyd would win a Castillo/Corrales style fight against Duran where it's fought in a phone booth. That would favour Duran.

But if they fought prime for prime, I believe Floyd would have a lot easier shutting down Duran's inside offence then people would think.

I see where you're coming from.
I do believe if Floyd sat down more on his punches he would stop guys and give us more entertaining fights. Like he showed with those body shots in the 11th but it seems like us boxing fans believe more in Floyd than he does in himself or maybe he's just so defensive minded that he doesn't think any sort of risk is worth it.

Floyd is a outside fighter by jumping just as the opponent is coming in.

There is a whole lot of that which makes up the real skill of boxing that could be considered a lost art.

Originally Posted by Beanflicker

But if they fought prime for prime, I believe Floyd would have a lot easier shutting down Duran's inside offence then people would think.

Only if Floyd got on his bike. Duran was a master of fighting on the inside. He knew how and when to foul so as not to get caught, he threw crisp punches and put himself in great positions defensively. You see Maidana winging punches in getting wide with them...Duran would not do that, he might club one or two to shift Floyd's guard in order to open up windows to land other punches.


Floyd's speed would have to be utilized at the fullest in order to compete with Duran and he's not going to do that in a phone booth type fight.

Originally Posted by Sleepwalker

That's all I have to say.

Don't worry about it, you don't have to say much.
It's like a troll-ethon to see who can mention Floyd first.