Floyd Mayweather's Longevity - Compare Him To B-Hop!

A lot of people here have said that he is past it now and once the reflexes go he will be no longer be a threat.
Well I disagree I think he will be a threat, if we draw comparisons to Bernard Hopkins who is still going strong at the top level at the age of 46 we can assess as to whether he will still be a force in a few years down the line. Here's my list of things that generally have the affect.

Boxing Brain - I would say Floyd has a better boxing brain than Bernard, he reads fighters perhaps even better than the old man and has the capability to make clerical boxing adjustments in his game to win fights, however we could perhaps say he doesn't do the kidology part quite as well, although he had still got years to make that up on him. You would also have to say that Floyd is a superior technical boxer than B-Hop is as well.

Speed and reflexes - Floyd clearly has better speed and reflexes than B-Hop at this moment in time and when B-Hop was at his age now. For me there has been no real evidence of him actually slowing down and we don't really know as to when that will slow down enough for him to actually make adjustments, but again when the time comes I imagine he will be able to understand how he can adapt his game as the top veterans are able to, no reason as to why Floyd can't pull out performances like B-Hop has against guys like Trinidad and Pascal.

Punishment Shipped - Considering Floyd is rarely ever caught with clean shots there should be no damage done to him in this department, never been knocked down and only slightly shaken a couple of times, but never looked to be in horrible trouble, every time he has been hurt (Which has only really been twice - Judah - Mosley) he has come back in the round proving he is fine. Compare that to B-Hop who had been in tough fights at the age of 35 and had shipped far more punishment.

Keeping fit out of Fights - B-Hop is unquestionably a master of doing this pushes himself all the time, runs, keeps himself in the most incredible shape and eats correct. Put this next to Floyd, out of fights trains all the time, runs all the time, yes he may go to nightclubs but he doesn't drink, yes he may stay up late, but often to train. (Took that from Jim Lampley)

Dedication to Boxing - B-Hop has the most incredible dedication to the sport has never seemed to fallen out of love with it. However according to some Floyd falls in and out of love with the sport. I struggle to believe this, he has consistently kept training out of fights whilst on his long breaks and other people elude to the fact that he is protecting his hands because they are apparently fragile so I'm unsure of his dedication to boxing. Will say one thing though, B-Hop always bounced back after losing and seemed to come back stronger, I wonder whether Floyd would be capable of doing this if he ever lost.

So taking all of this into account, why can't Floyd continue along the same lines as B-Hop staying at the very highest level, in reality looking at there two bodies Floyd is probably in a better state than what B-hop was at this time, in my opinion there is only one reason as to why Floyd can't do this, and that would be because Floyd doesn't want to do this. If Floyd continues as long as B-Hop and takes out all the best up and coming fighters until he is 46 then he could even go as far as being #1 ATG.

Floyd has never REALLY been hurt and when he is, he reacts well. Although he has a very good set of whiskers, he's never hit.

His style has changed slightly over time. He's a little more flat footed, no longer boxes in the pocket, but with it he can hit a little harder. He used a much more othordox defense against Mosely in the later rounds (instead of the good ol' philly-shell).

He knows he's still good enough at top level and slowly adapted with his age. With it he has still remained on top of his game.

He won't stay in there as long as B-Hop, but I'd say Floyd would comfortably be on the top of his game for another 2 years.

I disagree to an extent. He seems to still box in the pocket at times, just on the fringe of it, perhaps this was due to Mosley's speed against Marquez he had no real problem doing it although that was down to Marquez's inability to hurt him.
I believe he will no longer sit on the ropes and defend unless he absolutely has to, he made the mistake of doing that against De La Hoya and it's the reason the fight was as close as it was.
He has made changes in terms of not back off as much unless he is in real danger of being hit and apears to take a few more chances than he usually would.
taking all this into account he has only really gotten better, but perhaps a bit easier to get at, (Though still nearly impossible) I would say that he has enough to make necessary adjustments to his game for 5 - 10 more years if he chooses to, maybe even more.

Mayweather is better than Hopkins no doubt about it but will he fight until his is 47? I seriously doubt it its too early to say if he could or not he is only 34 or 35 now and 47 is VERY old I cant think of any boxers who are champs at that age.

I can't see him hanging around and getting beat by someone who in his prime would have been beaten comfortably like Khan. A couple more fights then he chucks it in.

I still believe the Pac fight will happen I think it will happen next year and then he retires unbeaten and rich as hell.

Would disagree that Flyod has a better boxing brain than Hopkins. Flyod uses his superior natural ability and reflexes a lot more whereas BHop relies more on his brain. Once Flyod's reflexes start to fade he won't be the same fighter and will hang em up.

if floyd can ever give up boxing forever...
if he doesnt then he can adapt in my opinion and he has the opportunity to be a nailed on top ten ATG

Depends solely on one fight, that doesn't come off and he's getting nowhere near a top ten anytime soon, Jones jnr would be the better comparison not a stylistically different fighter like Hopkins.

not for me as mayweather has adaptability unlike RJJ he does rely on refkexes at this moment in time but for me we are seeing far more ring generalship nowadays and becoming more bhop like

Jones had apadtability but once the reflexes went he was no longer able to defend himself, much like Mayweather his defence relies on speed and reflexes. Hopkins has always been a bit of a spoiler when he fights and relied on his boxing brain, never had great speed or power so the loss of them hasn't affected him, once Mayweathers reflexes and legs go he's going to be a sitting duck to fairly fast hands.

disagree 90% of RJJs defence was reflexes where as floyd uses his arms ties up leans forces you into making the mistakes positions you with his defensive capabilities this is more down to trickery but of course combine this with his reflexes and you get a huge pain in the bum. his defense is far more similar to bhop in my opinion though when the reflexes slow he will become much more beatable

AlexHuckerby wrote:disagree 90% of RJJs defence was reflexes where as floyd uses his arms ties up leans forces you into making the mistakes positions you with his defensive capabilities this is more down to trickery but of course combine this with his reflexes and you get a huge pain in the bum. his defense is far more similar to bhop in my opinion though when the reflexes slow he will become much more beatable

Floyd is nothing like Jones. Floyd could box textbook technique with an orthodox guard tomorrow if you took away his speed and reflexes. Jones used his speed and reflexes to mask technical deficencies.

I have always believed Mayweather could go on like BHop, and I can't see anyone on the horizon beating him. He wouldn't need speed or reflexes to counter punch Khan or Manny's head off. Marquez aint exactly Hector Camacho and he showed with good timing and tight technique speed is a very hollow threat.

Bob wrote:

AlexHuckerby wrote:disagree 90% of RJJs defence was reflexes where as floyd uses his arms ties up leans forces you into making the mistakes positions you with his defensive capabilities this is more down to trickery but of course combine this with his reflexes and you get a huge pain in the bum. his defense is far more similar to bhop in my opinion though when the reflexes slow he will become much more beatable

Floyd is nothing like Jones. Floyd could box textbook technique with an orthodox guard tomorrow if you took away his speed and reflexes. Jones used his speed and reflexes to mask technical deficencies.

I have always believed Mayweather could go on like BHop, and I can't see anyone on the horizon beating him. He wouldn't need speed or reflexes to counter punch Khan or Manny's head off. Marquez aint exactly Hector Camacho and he showed with good timing and tight technique speed is a very hollow threat.

He WOULD need speed and reflexes to counter. I understand the point you're making, but that part isn't true.

BALTIMORA wrote:

Bob wrote:

AlexHuckerby wrote:disagree 90% of RJJs defence was reflexes where as floyd uses his arms ties up leans forces you into making the mistakes positions you with his defensive capabilities this is more down to trickery but of course combine this with his reflexes and you get a huge pain in the bum. his defense is far more similar to bhop in my opinion though when the reflexes slow he will become much more beatable

Floyd is nothing like Jones. Floyd could box textbook technique with an orthodox guard tomorrow if you took away his speed and reflexes. Jones used his speed and reflexes to mask technical deficencies.

I have always believed Mayweather could go on like BHop, and I can't see anyone on the horizon beating him. He wouldn't need speed or reflexes to counter punch Khan or Manny's head off. Marquez aint exactly Hector Camacho and he showed with good timing and tight technique speed is a very hollow threat.

He WOULD need speed and reflexes to counter. I understand the point you're making, but that part isn't true.

Disagree. Two of the finest counter punches today are Marquez and BHop. Neither are reknowned as having quick hands. See Barrera against the blurring speed of Naz, Toney against Nunn, or a whole host of other examples where counterpunching technique and timing have overcome gulfs in speed and reflexes.

I'm not saying a counter-puncher has to have lightning-fast hands, what I'm saying is that a degree of speed is still needed, as are reflexes. If a boxer is too slow to deliver the counter punch, he'll fail. The guys you named aren't blessed with Meldrick Taylor's handspeed, but nor are they known as being slow punchers.

his skills alone are good enough and id be suprised if he slows down massively bhops still pretty nimble

BALTIMORA wrote:I'm not saying a counter-puncher has to have lightning-fast hands, what I'm saying is that a degree of speed is still needed, as are reflexes. If a boxer is too slow to deliver the counter punch, he'll fail. The guys you named aren't blessed with Meldrick Taylor's handspeed, but nor are they known as being slow punchers.

Do you honestly believe that only fighters with fast hands can be successful counterpunchers?

Obviously if a fighter is too slow he'll miss. If they were like me and had the speed of a whelk then they would almost certainly fail.

Reflexes are overrated. If you tell me that Jones Jr used reflexes to avoid punches, as in he reacted without thought to avoid a threat or stimulas (a reflex), I would agree.

If you are telling me BHop picking apart an opponent who just can't seem to land cleanly is him reacting without thought then I disagree. It is experience and his wily mind that means he knows exactly what to do and where to be when the punch comes, and as such he doesn't need speed to react appropriately and is certainly not using his reflexes.

I think he's actually got better tbh. He was a class act against a young revived talented fighter. He let the combos fly as well which is weird for floyd these days. A modern all time great. Can't wait to see his next fight, hopefully it's the biggy!!!

It doesn't matter how much he knows exactly when a punch is coming, he still needs to be fast enough to deliver his own blow in the space of milliseconds. I dare say that someone like Manny Steward could see where the opportunities arise, but I doubt he'd have the speed or the reflexes to capitalise.

he is becoming more aggressive which is strange how aggressive he is against manny is an interesting thought

BALTIMORA wrote:It doesn't matter how much he knows exactly when a punch is coming, he still needs to be fast enough to deliver his own blow in the space of milliseconds. I dare say that someone like Manny Steward could see where the opportunities arise, but I doubt he'd have the speed or the reflexes to capitalise.

I argue that any boxer can be quick enough to successfully counterpunch, and you throw in a guy in his late sixties as an example to refute this?

I miss D4th's deft and measured debate.

As an example that if the mind is willing but the flesh unable then all the nous in the world will not suffice.

BALTIMORA wrote:As an example that if the mind is willing but the flesh unable then all the nous in the world will not suffice.

And here I am watching the Great North Run looking out for Stephen Hawking at the front of the wheelchair race.

AlexHuckerby wrote:he is becoming more aggressive which is strange how aggressive he is against manny is an interesting thought

very very interesting, I've missed the guy but its funny, most claim these breaks won't do good for him but he is in another league. Its like it restores his hunger, I honestly have no doubt in my mind Floyd will be victorious if/when they meet.

Bob wrote:

BALTIMORA wrote:As an example that if the mind is willing but the flesh unable then all the nous in the world will not suffice.

And here I am watching the Great North Run looking out for Stephen Hawking at the front of the wheelchair race.

That wouldn't surprise me.