The art of Infighting is a lost art

[Manos de Piedra]

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.

[Beanflicker]

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.

[#1FightFan]

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

[Master]

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.

[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.

[BCBUD]

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

[greynotsoold]

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

[El Kabong]

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.

[Beanflicker]

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.

Well that's the thing with Mayweather, he has made a career of dictating where the fight takes place. For sure he would be on his bicycle a lot for Duran but in those spots where Duran got inside, which would happen, Floyd would shut down his offence.

Floyd is absolute poison for Duran.

[Dia bando]

Now this is what you call infighting.

[Dia bando]

Qawi is a hell of a inside fighter, one of the best I have seen he would beat the hell out of his
opponents, a buzz saw yes a favourite fighter of mine.

[mikeeod]

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.

Well that's the thing with Mayweather, he has made a career of dictating where the fight takes place. For sure he would be on his bicycle a lot for Duran but in those spots where Duran got inside, which would happen, Floyd would shut down his offence.

Floyd is absolute poison for Duran.

If Castillo and Maidana could win on the inside against Floyd, Duran would dominate there. Floyd would have a chance, a good chance, at winning if he could keep things on the outside. If Duran could be effective outside and force Floyd to stand in the pocket, however, I see Floyd losing bad. If Duran could bully the much larger Leonard I don't see him having many issues manhandling Floyd. Just my take though.

[El Kabong]

Well that's the thing with Mayweather, he has made a career of dictating where the fight takes place. For sure he would be on his bicycle a lot for Duran but in those spots where Duran got inside, which would happen, Floyd would shut down his offence.

Floyd is absolute poison for Duran.

It would depend...

I think Floyd would be more in and out and grappling when Duran tried to get work in. Floyd would attempt to frustrate Roberto and maybe he'd succeed in that. I think Duran would attempt to time Floyd and use his stamina to press the issue and just try to make Floyd make a mistake where he could capitalize on it.

You look at Duran-SRL I & II and you can see how Floyd would lose and how Floyd would win.