The "How to beat Floyd Mayweather" thread...

[greynotsoold]

It will take a smart guy to beat him. Mayweather hasn't fought to many guys that are ring smart- the obvious exception being Marquez and the size differential there was huge. He fights a lot of guys that are good at throwing punches, but not so good at figuring out how to hit a guy that doesn't want to get hit, and knows how to avoid it. Another thing, smart fighters don't get hit with a lot of right hands (because you can see them coming forever) but dummies eat them like popcorn; James Toney had a real good run exploiting this same tactic, even as a weeble of a blown up MW.
"Knowing how to fight" is not a prerequisite of becoming a professional fighter; in fact, it is very very rare in this era of boxing. Mayweather controls the distance every time he fights and a guy that knows how to fight would contest that with him. It may not lead to an exciting fight, but that it the beginning of the way to beat him.

[El Kabong]

It will take a smart guy to beat him. Mayweather hasn't fought to many guys that are ring smart- the obvious exception being Marquez and the size differential there was huge. He fights a lot of guys that are good at throwing punches, but not so good at figuring out how to hit a guy that doesn't want to get hit, and knows how to avoid it. Another thing, smart fighters don't get hit with a lot of right hands (because you can see them coming forever) but dummies eat them like popcorn; James Toney had a real good run exploiting this same tactic, even as a weeble of a blown up MW.
"Knowing how to fight" is not a prerequisite of becoming a professional fighter; in fact, it is very very rare in this era of boxing. Mayweather controls the distance every time he fights and a guy that knows how to fight would contest that with him. It may not lead to an exciting fight, but that it the beginning of the way to beat him.

Floyd is brilliant in the ring but not only that he's brilliant at implementing his game plan. He can adjust and change his game during a fight like nobody else. Either someone will have to get lucky or just simply outmuscle him and over power him and again I don't see him losing to anyone. Even if there was a prime pressure fighter it would be very difficult for such a fighter to beat Floyd. Floyd is too crafty to be outboxed and too quick and too in shape to wilt under the pressure from another fighter. Floyd could fight 30 rounds if he had too, amazing talent.

[greynotsoold]

It will take a smart guy to beat him. Mayweather hasn't fought to many guys that are ring smart- the obvious exception being Marquez and the size differential there was huge. He fights a lot of guys that are good at throwing punches, but not so good at figuring out how to hit a guy that doesn't want to get hit, and knows how to avoid it. Another thing, smart fighters don't get hit with a lot of right hands (because you can see them coming forever) but dummies eat them like popcorn; James Toney had a real good run exploiting this same tactic, even as a weeble of a blown up MW.
"Knowing how to fight" is not a prerequisite of becoming a professional fighter; in fact, it is very very rare in this era of boxing. Mayweather controls the distance every time he fights and a guy that knows how to fight would contest that with him. It may not lead to an exciting fight, but that it the beginning of the way to beat him.

Floyd is brilliant in the ring but not only that he's brilliant at implementing his game plan. He can adjust and change his game during a fight like nobody else. Either someone will have to get lucky or just simply outmuscle him and over power him and again I don't see him losing to anyone. Even if there was a prime pressure fighter it would be very difficult for such a fighter to beat Floyd. Floyd is too crafty to be outboxed and too quick and too in shape to wilt under the pressure from another fighter. Floyd could fight 30 rounds if he had too, amazing talent.

I agree with that. But I don't know that he is too crafty to be outboxed, as I have never seen him fight another crafty fighter that tried to out box him. I don't know of anybody currently fighting that fits that bill, either, not near his weight class.
The biggest part of Mayweather- or, really, any smart fighter- being able to implement his game plan is his ability to control distance. To keep it at range when he chooses, or to make the other guy come to him to get pot-shotted with right hands, or to make the other guy stand there and wait on Mayweather to steal the right hand. The guy that can beat Mayweather is the guy that can force him to close distance when he doesn't want to, or make him fight when he doesn't want to.
It can be done, no fighter is unbeatable, but I don't think that there is anybody around to do it because it requires a skill set that is very rarely taught any more.

[Master]

Marco Antonia Barrera "type Rambo attack" like against Eric Morales where you punch for every second of every round to knock him off his stride.

Hearns with height, reach, jab and brutal power.

Sugar Ray Leonard/Robinson with speed, accuracy and power.

Pernell Whitaker with speed and unorthodox guile.

[El Kabong]

Marco Antonia Barrera "type Rambo attack" like against Eric Morales where you punch for every second of every round to knock him off his stride.

Hearns with height, reach, jab and brutal power.

Sugar Ray Leonard/Robinson with speed, accuracy and power.

Pernell Whitaker with speed and unorthodox guile.

Well yeah but those guys are all-time greats...nobody is going to beat Floyd unless Floyd has a gigantic brain fart or fights injured or gets cheated.

[bradlee180]

I think Paul Williams and Antonio Margarito would have beaten him.
It's why he did that nonsensical retirement that time.

Stevie Johnston at 130 was avoided.

They are high-stamina guys that really force the pace, and they don't get tired nor frustrated by losing some early rds, and they're very durable. They walk through shots these guys.

Floyd knew better than anybody what his liabilities were, and took extreme measures to make sure he wouldn't be put in that position.
Hey, like he said himself, if the fans were willing to pay to see him fight hand-picked opponents, then why take the toughest, tip-top challenges instead?

Joel Casamayor may've been able to do it.

I put up a list years ago with 19 top names on it that were avoided.
In truth, I think Mayweather would have outboxed most of them, but he wouldn't sign to fight them, picking 2nd tier fighters instead or fighters that were smaller or used-up.

For instance, when Floyd was at 130, the top guys at 126 were Barrera and Morales and Hamed. I don't think those guys could have beat him, but they would have put on greater fights with Floyd than jesus chavez, carlos hernandez, emanuel augustus, gregorio vargas, angel manfreddy, genaro hernandez.

At 130 or 135, I don't think Juan Lazcano, Acelino Freitas, Paul Spadafora would've beat him, but they were better opponents than victoriano sosa, philip n'dou.
Castillo was good and beat Floyd but was robbed, but you gotta give credit to Floyd for doing the immediate rematch and clearly winning it.
I think Stevie Johnston at 135 is one of the few that could've done the job.

At 140, I don't think Tszyu, Urkal, nor Miguel Cotto could defeat him, but they were better opponents than demarcus corley, henry bruseles,
arturo gatti, and sharmba mitchell.
Floyd deserves credit for Hatton. Hatton was a top prime guy, and going up a few lbs wasn't a factor in that fight. Hatton just didn't have the right style. Even with cortez' helping Floyd, I don't think Ricky was going to beat Floyd.

At 147, Paul Williams, Antonio Margarito, Manny Pacquiao, Shane Mosely, Joshua Clottey, Kermit Cintron, Andre Berto.
Unequivocally, I believe Paul Williams and Antonio Margarito would've stopped Floyd. He can't hit hard enough to stop these guys from advancing, and his workrate isn't as high as them. He likes to potshot and be on cruise-control that Floyd. These guys would push the pace, beat him up, and burn him out.
The Pacquiao fight has many more questions; it's what made it an intriguing fight.

I don't think Shane nor Berto would've beat him under the best circumstances. They're not thinkers in there. Cintron would not have done it; back then, Cintron was knocking out guys, but it wasn't long till his liability of quitting under pressure was exposed. He wouldn't belong in the same ring with Floyd. Clottey has physical gifts, but no desire, and he's not smart enough in there. He'd be picked apart.
They were still better prime opponents at 147 than carlos baldomir, frontrunner zab judah, featherweight juan manuel marquez, lightweight Robert Guerrero, and an old De La Hoya, a faded Cotto, and the shell of Shame Mosley.


Very satisfied that he stepped in with Saul Alvarez and even Victor Ortiz.
I'll never forget Ortiz quitting though.

154 and 160? Nah, Floyd's not a light-middleweight, certainly not a Middleweight.




ps. I've NEVER paid not one time for a Floyd Mayweather match...

[ykdadamaja]

A good competitive fight would be Amir Khan... I would like to see a pumped up Khan for a Mayweather fight.

[THE THIRD MAN]

Only the Pacquiao of 2009/2010 had any chance of beating Floyd, his speed and unusual angles might've been the answer. It's too late now for the Pacman, i don't think he can beat an egg right now.
Those who are touting Khan as a prospective opponent should ask CJ Ross out on a date!

[Ron Swanson]

A good jab is where you start. It keeps him occupied rather than thinking 3 steps ahead.
(While it's exaggerated how "close" Oscar was to beating him it was clear the jab troubled him. You'll also notice when the Mayweathers describe why someone can't beat Floyd they almost always say he has no jab. They know what can trouble Floyd)

Feignt. He'll transfer his weight to an easier position to exploit.
(See RJJ vs James Toney)

Change rhythms. Floyds game is built off knowing what you will do and when. Don't comply.
(See Augustus vs Floyd. Augustus wasn't good enough but he was tricky and awkward)

Change patterns. Floyd will give away portions of the fight to make sure he knows what you are doing.


Now that you've kept Floyd busy with your jab, kept him off balance with feignts, kept him guessing by changing rhythms and patterns. GET BUSY! Being the best is Floyds entire identity he's going to fight for it. Now you MUST fight at a pace you couldn't possibly have maintained all fight but you've bought time. Now you have to suck it up and go earn it.

[ykdadamaja]

A good jab is where you start. It keeps him occupied rather than thinking 3 steps ahead.
(While it's exaggerated how "close" Oscar was to beating him it was clear the jab troubled him. You'll also notice when the Mayweathers describe why someone can't beat Floyd they almost always say he has no jab. They know what can trouble Floyd)

Feignt. He'll transfer his weight to an easier position to exploit.
(See RJJ vs James Toney)

Change rhythms. Floyds game is built off knowing what you will do and when. Don't comply.
(See Augustus vs Floyd. Augustus wasn't good enough but he was tricky and awkward)

Change patterns. Floyd will give away portions of the fight to make sure he knows what you are doing.


Now that you've kept Floyd busy with your jab, kept him off balance with feignts, kept him guessing by changing rhythms and patterns. GET BUSY! Being the best is Floyds entire identity he's going to fight for it. Now you MUST fight at a pace you couldn't possibly have maintained all fight but you've bought time. Now you have to suck it up and go earn it.

I said it before and believe it more now, especially since the Mayweather/Cotto fight- the only fight I have seen him truly busted up.

Cotto forced him into the ropes and didn't just throw right hands, but was hitting him all night with left hooks and straight HARD left jabs.

Then all of a sudden Cotto stopped!?!? Inexplicably and let Floyd control the center of the ring and pot-shot him all night.

The left jab, a good and hard left jab and a short hook is the only way to disorient Floyd and make him, at least, lose a few rounds if not get a KO.

Floyd can take a punch, however... the reason why he takes a good punch is because he doesn't get hit all the time, if at all. So, even when you happen to graze him or hit him cleanly, he just goes on his defense and you forget what brought you to the dance.... start to flail away at Floyd, which is what he wants you to do, and then you tire out and then it's back to business for Floyd.

One needs patience and a strong belief in your left jab and short left hook... everything else is going to come off of that.

[ykdadamaja]

... and not a weak, flicking jab either. A good STIFF AND HARD left jab. One that breaks noses and blackens eyes. The kind that guys fall back 2 steps from the sheer power of it. One that sticks in and comes stiff!!!

[THE THIRD MAN]

It will take a smart guy to beat him. Mayweather hasn't fought to many guys that are ring smart- the obvious exception being Marquez and the size differential there was huge. He fights a lot of guys that are good at throwing punches, but not so good at figuring out how to hit a guy that doesn't want to get hit, and knows how to avoid it. Another thing, smart fighters don't get hit with a lot of right hands (because you can see them coming forever) but dummies eat them like popcorn; James Toney had a real good run exploiting this same tactic, even as a weeble of a blown up MW.
"Knowing how to fight" is not a prerequisite of becoming a professional fighter; in fact, it is very very rare in this era of boxing. Mayweather controls the distance every time he fights and a guy that knows how to fight would contest that with him. It may not lead to an exciting fight, but that it the beginning of the way to beat him.

Floyd is brilliant in the ring but not only that he's brilliant at implementing his game plan. He can adjust and change his game during a fight like nobody else. Either someone will have to get lucky or just simply outmuscle him and over power him and again I don't see him losing to anyone. Even if there was a prime pressure fighter it would be very difficult for such a fighter to beat Floyd. Floyd is too crafty to be outboxed and too quick and too in shape to wilt under the pressure from another fighter. Floyd could fight 30 rounds if he had too, amazing talent.

The only time he was in any serious trouble was when Mosley hit him in round 2, Floyd immediately adjusted the game plan and made sure that didn't happen again and he never lost another round.
Mayweather is a very smart fighter, he has made the old saying "hit and not be hit" his own. He is the best defensive fighter i have ever seen, Canelo had no answer to him and that was plainly evident as early as round 3, the only person in the world who didn't was CJ Ross...I don't know how you can beat Floyd Mayweather jr.

[X]

Floyd is a magical fighter, and his beaten opponents look like a who's who of two generations of fighters.

I wonder whether someone like Aaron Pryor could have pressured him so much that his technique began to disintegrate, I wonder what would have happened if a young, fast, vicious Terry Norris tagged him or if a long armed intelligent boxer/puncher like Arguello was in front of him.

Ray Leonard v Floyd Mayweather at welterweight would have been fantastic.

The two people he might have struggled with would be Roberto Duran at 140lb, or Tommy Hearns at 147. The fact I'm even mentioning Mayweather in the same breath as some of these names shows how highly I rate him, and always have as a boxer

[KickMuck]

There is only one person that can beat Floyed and that is me.

[THE THIRD MAN]