Quote Originally Posted by GRBOXINGFAN
You know, I've been watching Floyd for 15 years(Actually maybe 20 years, I met him when he was a kid at Pride Gym, damn I'm old) and he is the smartest fighter i have even seen. He was put through some pretty hard things in that gym from what I hear. Being put in with guys several years older until he would cry. His weakness is his ego. He is a lightweight to junior welterweight and he has the skills to beat much bigger men which is truly rare in boxing. Oscar was too big for him IMO, it took all Floyds smarts and skill to win that fight, even though he won it handily IMO. If the right fighter challenges him at 154 or even 160 in a couple years, Floyd could lose. He is not that big, I know a lot of the world is looking at him at 147 and judging him, but watch him at 130, 135 or 140. Its a different fighter. The speed and skill at the lower weights are other worldly. At 130, Floyd rivaled Roy Jones athleticism, he was a freak of nature. Carrying the extra weight effected his speed in ever way. Physically the 147 pound Floyd we now see is not close to what he was. And his power at 130 was very good to great, where as at 147 it is average. He is winning fights now on defense and brains. Defensively, Floyd is among the best ever, but he gets hit way more at 140 and 147. He was untouchable at lighter weights. Fighters don't have much luck in dropping back down weights, so i doubt we'll see him go lower, but man wouldn't Floyd vs. Pacquiao or Diaz at 135 be interesting.

At 147 maybe Margarito can beat him, or possibly Oscar under the right circumstances. Williams, maybe in a couple years. Margarito could come into a fight night feasably weighing 165 lbs. Cotto is not bigger than Floyd and is not a real threat in my opinion. Floyd's jaw has been proven good at these higher weights so far, but you never know. Floyd has been hurt at 147 too, by Chop Chop and Judah notably. He can take a shot and still stay together.

Floyd's training regiment rivals any fighter's in history. He puts himself through things other fighters cannot imagine in preparing for fights. His training has put much more wear and tear on his body than his fights. This guy does things in the gym that most trainers would think to be suicide. The rumors are true, I have met guys who have helped Floyd train and he has in fact sparred 20, 25 and even 30 rounds against fresh opponents every few rounds. I have not seen Floyd look winded in a fight since Golden Gloves.

The Hatton win was a good one, but i've watched it 20-30 times now (yeah I am that much of a geek). My conclusion is that it wasn't that impressive of a win. No offense to anyone, but Hatton really looked like an amateur at times. His defense was non existent and he just kept walking right into punches. He also telegraphed his punches horribly and Floyd had him timed by the 3rd round. I like Hatton, and Floyd has made many a fighter look poor, but this was a mismatch and I don't consider it in Floyd's top 10 wins. Floyd did look more comfortable at this weight than in the past though, he showed improved foot speed and better hand speed although his head movement isn't what it was at the lower weights.

Floyd can lose. There is definitely someone who can beat him. Maybe at a higher weight class. I think, despite what you hear, he will fight several more times. He'll fight the best at 147 and then possibly take a chance and reach for someone who is just way too big and thats when he could lose. My bet is Floyd is crazy like a fox, he probably knows his limits even if he'd never admit to them in public. I would hope his ego wouldn't get the best of him and he'd take a fight with some huge middleweight or something like that. As a pure boxing fan, I wish he would've never made the jump in weight. We were seeing something at 130 ad 135 that we had never seen before, but as a Floyd fan, I'm glad he moved up so he could display his skills to a bigger audience even if they were diminished some.
CC. good for you, I like your take.


I see Floyd as a fighter above all the rest because he thinks differerntly .
He has thought and so moves in sections and fights differently according to the many distances and what the limits are within all those distances and angles so its then all done with intent.
Most fighters are taught and only think in outside or inside fighting.
Floyd thinks those but also thinks outside elbow, inside elbow,getting someones arm in the way of their own power arm.
Makeing them turn bodily into his shots.
He has already worked on presice movements that are reacting to your position and your limits even on a non contact range when your still comming forwards to him .

Everything he does and reacts to starts early and all for good reasons .

He is not just keeping on his toes or bouncing /waiting for the sake of doing it out of distance for looking or feeling sharper or just for a reaction off of it, as most do.

IT will take a fighter who has thought deeply,then trained into his sparring the same breaking down of all the posiblilties,so as to beat him at his own game.
I cant think of any out there.

The only way he gets beat is by weight or power and being stupid or over confident.

Roy Jones when he was younger and prime had the same understanding between others movment and his own limits at every distance and angle,thats how he made most level fighters with one plan or none look so stupid.