Meldrick might have been a faster combo puncher, but Floyd was quicker with the one shot, and more importantly Floyd was a lot more accurate.
Meldrick wasn't even in Floyd's league in his prime, let alone when he fought Terry Norris.
But hey, I'm not saying Terry Norris couldn't beat Floyd at 154, I'm not even saying he couldn't knock Floyd out. But if you're telling me that he's going to do to Floyd what he did to Meldrick, just blast him out of there like a bum, you're nuts!
The point was that Floyd is not impervious to fast hands and when you consider natural size, speed and power of Norris..mayweather has never faced anything close to that and stayed dry. Frankly Mosley fought a dumb fight after his brief window and he went out to actually try to box with Floyd. He adjusted too, away from any sliver of a chance.
The comparison was to pure speed and closing down an all time fast handed guy and chopping down ring real estate. Norris had some serious speed and that fight flipped on its head with Taylor having his gameplan stripped away in 2nd. And it was Norris going down in weight. Made me think of Norris boxing class round 1 vs Julian Jackson..then the power came, in brutal fashion. Clearly Taylor had not the master footwork or backseat boxing mentality of Mayweather, but the totally washed up and shot talk gets thrown around way too easily in hindsight today. Taylor wore scars from Chavez but he wasn't so washed up that he couldn't rise a division, shut out a respectable champion and beat a top contender going into Norris fight. Both were ranked p4p top fighters in the world for whatever thats worth and Taylor was numero uno in his division! That fight was a throw back type match and a shot in the arm for the sport.
Why are we using the Floyd that fought Shane as an example? Floyd in his early days had as good a foot movement as any fighter i have seen. Terry was one bad dude...but he hardly was tight on his defense. Mayweather is incredibly accurate and has tremendous movement. Norris never fought anyone who was as slick, smart, and defensively sound as Floyd. Of course ANY fighter can get caught with a big shot...Norris certainly did. Also, using the "slap and running" line is complete bs. Maybe...just maybe...that is why Mayweather has still has facilities but a fighter like Terry can't talk properly because of the punishment he took.
You really cannot be objective when it comes to Floyd, when people point out weaknesees you do not accept them. OK, Terry may not have blasted out Floyd early but he would more than likely win.
I just watched his second disqualification against Santana? (forgot his name) and Norris was mortified he was disqualified again. He did have a tendandcy to self destruct at times. So maybe Floyd wins via a disqualification.![]()
Do not let success go to your head and do not let failure get to your heart.
Well because when talking speed combined one shot power in hypothetical 150ish a Mosley, Oscar or Judah would have to be the fastest? Absolutley correct, Floyd had the mobility of a cheetah even more in his early days, but he was also a lightweight, a jr welterweight. Not many at all could compose the total slick and defensive of Floyd but likewise, Mayweather has faced nothing like the complete package that Norris brought in natural size, speed and one shot power off boxing ability. Norris aggression could backfire, but he showed he could just as quickly box like a fool the next time out and make adjustments in the heat. Its hypothetical of course. I also think the slap and run shot was a bit cheap and Terry knows the difference. Paul Vaden was literally slap and run and had his purse withheld as a result of that non effort.
moreover it looks like a generation of volume punching athletes and stylists vs. a generation of hardened boxers. Good thing Floyd is a throwback of sorts and doesnt just look to windmill/shoeshine you. The problem i see in this equation is the fact that while everyones saying norris has never seen someone like floyd. Floyd has never seen someone like norris. It goes without saying that the shot mosely landed, the melee from judah, the roughhousing by ortiz and the swarming by castillo, could all happen in the same night against floyd with the way Norris fought. Now its quite possible that Norris could have been dropped repeatedly like corrales because he didnt have the best chin. The thing that makes norris scary in this scenario is that he plain didnt give a damn.... so holding his arm like was done with mosely would have probably gotten floyd body slammed. the drama of the cup and headbutt reactions would have been met with more punches not hugs. Norris was an animal.
Nutritionist/strength and conditioning coaches and modern training benefits would prepare floyd to absorb more punishment that probably most of norris's opponents endured then retaliate. Floyds boxing and ring generalship lands a lot of punches but Floyd hasnt knocked anyone out without suckerpunches since Hatton 7 years ago. So it comes down to the imposing of wills... withought a lot of help from the ref, norris is not going to be deterred by a forearm or elbows. Floyds built to stay fresher through the end of the fight but his offense and defense arent made to handle norris's persistence at the natural weight disparity. I dont think norris can make it through the fight without being DQ'd but it would depend on if floyd was dropped and how he reacted to that. We've never seen floyd go tooth and nail with someone. The ref plays a big part in this one. Floyd has more ways to win but i doubt he'd be the same after the fight unless it ended early.
They want your @$$ beat because upsets make news. News brings about excitement, excitement brings about ratings. The objective is to bring you up to the tower and tear your @$$ down. And if you don't believe that, you're crazy.
Roy Jones, Jr. "What I've Learned," Esquire 2003
Interesting observation. Throwback in some ways but not in others.
Floyd indeed has old school skills and veteran tricks, stuff that many other current guys do not have these days. That's why there's currently several comparatively limited fighters holding titles or are top contenders in comparison to say the 80s or 70s.
Unfortunately, Floyd has lacked that old school mentality of fighting the best at their best.
In the last two years, he's been fighting the top challenges, top prime guys like Alvarez and Ortiz and Guerrero. He deserves credit for that especially considering 36 year old Floyd currently isn't as fast as he once was yet he's still outboxing them.
It's really a shame that he didn't fight all those top prime guys there were circa 2002 till 2010. He probably would've beat most of them, but he wouldn't sign to fight them at their best because he might lose, and he wouldn't sign unless he was sure he would win.
Looks like he's trying to make the most of the time left here at the tail-end of his career.
You can also make the point that Norris never faced a fighter like Floyd. Floyd is a different kind of beast. I am not going to hold it against him for not being an "old school" fighter in terms of being "all action." And you are right...it's all hypothetical since Floyd's best weight is clearly not 154. I am never one to say a guy like Norris couldn't have won or had success against Floyd. But i think one has to be fair and say the opposite could be just as true.
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