There's no blueprint to beat me.

“There’s no blueprint to beat me.”

The infamous words that every boxer and boxing fan have heard in every interview Floyd Mayweather JR has given in recent years. The crazy thing is, he is absolutely right. Usually with fighters there is an obvious flaw, something that gives their opponent some hope of winning. This just isn’t the case with the American, for example Amir Khan is well known for being unable to deal with a pressure fighter, but with Floyd there is nothing that can be exploited.

Fans all over the world believed that unbeatable opponent, father time, had begun to catch up with him after the Miguel Cotto fight. It was easy to see why this was so widely believed, he looked flat footed and didn’t have the same movement that had been displayed in recent years. After the fight he said he fought that way to give the fans an exciting, edge of the seat thriller which he had done. Yet there where murmurings before his fight with Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero that due to age, and his recent incarceration that this time he would lose his cherished “0”.

Robert Guerrero had talked about doing certain things that Mayweather JR would never have seen before, he believed that he would be able to walk through the shots and come out the other side with the title. He came with a Hollywood story line, something that could have come straight out of a Rocky Balboa movie, a strong religious belief coupled with a fantastic belief in his own ability.

For the first six minutes of the fight he kept it close, using intelligent pressure. However once Mayweathers right hand found the target it became an easy night. I can honestly say I’ve never seen a boxer land the same punch so many times and his opponent not even try to adjust, whether this was because of the pure speed of the punch or because he just couldn’t I’m not sure, but sadly I don’t recall any of the guys in his corner tell him to avoid that punch. Instead his father kept telling him to throw the uppercut when Floyd ducked down, and while I’m sure his father knew what was happening it did become obvious as the fight went on that he didn’t have any ideas how to break the puzzle that is Floyd Mayweather JR.

The big question now is what next? There’s a lot of talk about the big fight with Saul Alverez at Light Middleweight. It is certainly the biggest test for the American, even if it is only because of the size difference. Should that fight happen though, I feel Canelo would struggle to land anything clean and after three or four rounds he would start eating right hand counters, leading to quite a wide decision win for Mayweather JR.

Amir Khan is the other name being talked about, but only because he has thrown his own name in to the hat rather than being mentioned as an obvious choice. This fight doesn’t last six rounds for me, Diaz showed how easy it is to land the right hand on “King” Khan, and as we saw against Guerrero that right hand doesn’t miss.

One thing I can guarantee though, is that whoever is lucky enough to get a shot at Floyd, and a career high pay day in the process, will certainly here the phrase “44 have tried and 44 have failed.”

azania wrote:No he didn't. Zero means undefeated bro.

azania wrote:Saul comes in at lhw anyway. Freudian?

kingraf wrote:But can he do it on a wet Wednesday evening in Stoke?

Mayweathers cellmate wrote:When was the last time Mayweather fought someone at the top of their game?

Duty281 wrote:Say what you like, he still shat himself when Hatton squared up to him at the weigh-in, and the English fans took over that small American town.

WHU_Champo_League_in_7Yrs wrote:DLH and Cotto made the fights close by using their jab, a punch that is hard to slip out of the shoulder roll defence as you squared on and leaning back won't get you away from it

The straight right, except when Mosley got lucky, and the left hook upstairs are the punches that have next to no effect on Floyd and are pretty much nullified completely by his shoulder roll

To beat Floyd you need to punch in combinations and not go shot for shot with him as he will land his and you'll miss yours. And don't head hunt, tag him to the body as he doesn't use his feet but his upperbody meaning the body is a stationary target on the ropes

There isn't a blueprint per se, but between Castillo, DLH, Judah and Cotto performances then there are weaknesses but you have to be some kind of fighter to be able to exploit those weaknesses enough to bank enough rounds

Diamond in the rough wrote:I'm pretty sure floyd has changed a lot since Castillo it was a close fight 11 years ago its just crazy how people use this against him it was a close fight which he rematched! And the size factor on fight night I think it's only Marquez that he has weighed more every other fighter is bigger

kingraf wrote:No Strongback, it wasnt. That was a whipping. If I could compare it to a recent fight, it was Chavez-Martinez without the knockdown.

judge: Ken Morita 115-113 | judge: Larry O'Connell 116-113 | judge: Daniel Van de Wiele 115-113

Strongback wrote:

kingraf wrote:No Strongback, it wasnt. That was a whipping. If I could compare it to a recent fight, it was Chavez-Martinez without the knockdown.

Close on the cards for a whipping:

judge: Ken Morita 115-113 | judge: Larry O'Connell 116-113 | judge: Daniel Van de Wiele 115-113

mark_england wrote:

Mayweathers cellmate wrote:When was the last time Mayweather fought someone at the top of their game?

Last weekend.

* There's no blue print on beating him.
* Basically every single fighter he fights is made to look silly.
* Very accurate with his shots.
* Master of defence who rarely gets hit clean.

The man is the best boxer to ever have lived, people will probably only realise once he's gone.

All Time Great wrote:

Diamond in the rough wrote:I'm pretty sure floyd has changed a lot since Castillo it was a close fight 11 years ago its just crazy how people use this against him it was a close fight which he rematched! And the size factor on fight night I think it's only Marquez that he has weighed more every other fighter is bigger

Agree to some extent. But when we're talking in terms of a blue print, 3 fighters who were accurate and able to swarm Mayweather had a similar level of success. E.g Castillo, ODLH & Cotto. I was at the Mayweather/ Ortiz fight and when Ortiz started to up his rate in round 4 he was looking more dangerous and Floyd less comfortable.

Floyd hasn't faced a fighter like Khan or Pacquiao who I generally believe will present him real problems and possibly out score him with a decision victory as Castillo did in the first fight.

azania wrote:I haven't seen the second fight for a while but I had it to Floyd by 5 rounds IIRC. Their first fight was razor thin which could have gone either way. If the scoring was wider in their first fight then something was amiss.

All Time Great wrote:

Diamond in the rough wrote:I'm pretty sure floyd has changed a lot since Castillo it was a close fight 11 years ago its just crazy how people use this against him it was a close fight which he rematched! And the size factor on fight night I think it's only Marquez that he has weighed more every other fighter is bigger

Agree to some extent. But when we're talking in terms of a blue print, 3 fighters who were accurate and able to swarm Mayweather had a similar level of success. E.g Castillo, ODLH & Cotto. I was at the Mayweather/ Ortiz fight and when Ortiz started to up his rate in round 4 he was looking more dangerous and Floyd less comfortable.

Floyd hasn't faced a fighter like Khan or Pacquiao who I generally believe will present him real problems and possibly out score him with a decision victory as Castillo did in the first fight.

Lumbering_Jack wrote:

azania wrote:I haven't seen the second fight for a while but I had it to Floyd by 5 rounds IIRC. Their first fight was razor thin which could have gone either way. If the scoring was wider in their first fight then something was amiss.

Did the fight have a knock down? Or a points deduction? How did you get the 5 rounds (I assume you mean points?).

superflyweight wrote:It would take a hell of a fighter but there is a basic blueprint of sorts. A fast, accurate jab and enough speed and power in the other hand to stop Floyd throwing the overhand right. The only fighter I can be absolutely sure of executing that plan in and around Floyd's weight is Tommy Hearns.

Other than that, it would take an exceptional and somewhat uncoventional performance from someone like Leonard, Manny or Whitaker and Leonard is the only one of those that start as a favourite against Floyd.

I've left out anyone pre Leonard so as not to allow Az to de-rail this in the usual fashion.