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

[Stickgrappler]

I honestly think the only way to beat him is with speed. If you look at his opponents there's no speedsters. Judah was one of his tougher fights and he has avoided fast guys since. I honestly believe a guy like Khan has the best chance of beating him, but a khan with a better chin. Mallignaggi would also be an interesting opponent.

I've always thought that with Khan its more the when he gets plugged then having a below par chin. The only other guy in the weight area that I have seen step straight back like he does is his countrymen Kell Brook. Not only does Khan pull straight back but he does it like a post standing completely upright, lead hand down with his chin in the air testing the wind speed.

I've never watched Khan fight, but isn't Freddie Roach his coach? would've Roach have corrected that already?

[ross]

Good defence. Being able to stand in front of a fighter and not take any scoring shots. If you can be hit easy then you wont win. Floyds accuracy has his opponents second guessing and hesitating. If Floyd cant land those shots it would almost be check mate. S eone like Duran who can throw cute combinations and stay close without taking shots would be perfect.

Id loved to have seen the Mayorga that fought Orrest against Mayweather Apparently, Angelo Dundee said while watching Mayorga train in miami that he could beat Mayweather.

[imp]

For some reason hopkins has said in an interview he can make 160 before floyds may the 3rd fight and for some reason he thinks that anyone cares.

Floyd has four fights left.

If cotto beats/fights canelo then they will rematch.

Whos left?

Bradley
Garcia
Khan
Alexander
Broner?

Floyd could probably beat two on the same night..(you know its true)

He wont fight past 154 (hes a natural 140) so unless hitman hearns as a time machine it should be a safe stretch to 49-0.

Then another canelo fight as his 50th fight even though canelo would be weighing 209lbs but still fighting welterweights.

[imp]

I honestly think the only way to beat him is with speed. If you look at his opponents there's no speedsters. Judah was one of his tougher fights and he has avoided fast guys since. I honestly believe a guy like Khan has the best chance of beating him, but a khan with a better chin. Mallignaggi would also be an interesting opponent.

I've always thought that with Khan its more the when he gets plugged then having a below par chin. The only other guy in the weight area that I have seen step straight back like he does is his countrymen Kell Brook. Not only does Khan pull straight back but he does it like a post standing completely upright, lead hand down with his chin in the air testing the wind speed.

I've never watched Khan fight, but isn't Freddie Roach his coach? would've Roach have corrected that already?

Khan left freddie many moons ago hes now with V hunter.

[ykdadamaja]

I honestly think the only way to beat him is with speed. If you look at his opponents there's no speedsters. Judah was one of his tougher fights and he has avoided fast guys since. I honestly believe a guy like Khan has the best chance of beating him, but a khan with a better chin. Mallignaggi would also be an interesting opponent.

Judah was a slick Southpaw with an awesome straight left hand... Floyd can't shoulder roll off of his left shoulder AND defend his right side at the same time. How he beats you with the shoulder roll is when you give up on trying to throw left hooks and left hands... but it is an illusion. The straight left hand and the short left hook is right there for you.

That's how he got caught with a Mosely right hand in the 2nd round of their fight- all training camp he was preparing for Mosely's left hook, one of the better left hooks in the last 20 years of boxing and left himself open for the right hand.

Notice he recovered well after being tagged with the right hand and changed his defence to a more peakaboo style, with gloves held high- because he knew Mosely was a finisher of the highest pedigree and the only way to not get tagged with more rights and a killer left was to then switch from the shoulder roll, hug and hold a bit, and then give up the body and mid-section to clear the cobwebs and go on to lose the round for lack of activity and from points.

Floyd can't take a left hook or a straight left hand all night- even Judah had him looking for Judah's left hand before he got tagged with Judah's right.

That says something about Floyd, his attention to the right side of his body and/or jaw/equilibrium status on his right side. Could be an eye problem, could be an ear problem and he is disoriented and moves away from it, or it simply could be that one spot that he has to leave open to protect everywhere else with his impeccable defense.

Whatever it is, Floyd CLEARLY doesn't want to take shots to the right side of his face and head... no matter what they say about the peakaboo, the shoulder roll, or the waist-weave (see Pernell Whitaker) you have to leave something open. You just have to.

[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!!!

[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.

[jon09]

Floyd is the ultimate poker player and reads his opponents like no other. I'm sure that alot of the professionals had game plans until they got in the ring with Money May and none of it worked. I do believe a tall fighter with a decent workrate and solid jab gives him problems all day but there are no real tall fighters out there. I'm curious to see if Old man Hopkins is serious about making 160 by next year and challenge Floyd because that could be real interesting and sad at the same time for the then 49 year old. Garcia at 140 would be the way to go imo.

[imp]

Have you ever thought the reason why these guys cant keep up the pressure is because there actually getting hit and countered themselves?

Are we to believe there is a superhuman perfect species that can fight and keep floyd under pressure for every minute of every round without taken punishment or getting tired themselves?

I agree fast fighters will give floyd more issues and zab proved that but floyd has speed as well as brains.

You need a roy jones type of fighter with power, brains and speed that will give floyd a good fight for the whole 12 rounds but i dont know who has all those qualities.

These opponents have just got to hope he gets old in the ring and do their best.

Ps:- i have paid for all of floyds ppv events to witness the best of this era.

[FinitoElDinamita]

Nobody in this era has what it takes to beat Floyd. We need a Leonard, Duran, Chavez, Pea, or a Calzaghe type but there aint none..

If Khan had good punch resistance, Id give him a good chance..

[imp]

If khan had great punch resistance he would be unbeaten.

Floyd needs to surprise everyone and call out out ward...knowing it wont happen but sounds good.

[Silkeyjoe]

What about Lara? Good speed, decent defence, awkward style, reasonable power?

It's a shame Rigo ain't a bigger guy, that would be one for the boxing purist

[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!