The "Floyd struggles against southpaws" myth

Corley and Judah were two of Floyd's toughest fights but I agree that his problems with southpaws are overstated. Possibly because his dad is terrified of them.

 

The Corley fight wasn't really tough. He gets hit which is why people say he struggled.

 

People are not used to Floyd being hit hard/flush and when someone has a little success they tend to go overboard... When you have a hard time finding holes in something you want deflated you start making your own..

 

No they weren't, especially the Corley fight. Castillo, Augustus, Hoya, and Chavez were his toughest fights. Anyway, I don't even think the people who say he has trouble with Soutpaws really believe it. If they did, they wouldn't all be writing Ortiz off like they are.

 

He shut Corley out

 

Yeah this is exactly why it doesn't make sense... It's boxing, sometimes you get hit.. That's as bad as people saying Shane hit Floyd with a lucky shot (or two) in the second round... Shane had a good plan, but failed to get the KO... Floyd adjusted and it didn't happen again.

 

Like you said, Chop Chop wasn't a hard fight by most boxers standards but he definitely caused Floyd a few problems. From my memory of it he had him hurt slightly too. I think Floyd has said in the past that fight was the most he's been hurt.

One other thing about Floyd fighting southpaws: he hasn't fought any since Judah, and since that fight his straight right hand, his best punch and generally considered the most effective punch against southpaws, has become even better.

 

Floyd is undefeated against southpaws, this is not a myth.

It's just that 2 of them hit him a few times and people went crazy.

He has never won less than a dominant UD against them. Corley should have been stopped, and Zab would have been stopped had he not bought himself time by fouling FLoyd fragrantly and inciting a riot.

 

Judah genuinely frustrated him for the first four rounds. When you see someone as good as Floyd getting hit consistently with clean shots then it naturally makes you sit up and take notice. Floyd's defence is better than his offence, so when Judah forced him to lead the action, Floyd was getting countered to both the head and the body, and Judah even scored a knockdown that wasn't called. I always thought that Floyd's body language after the second round seemed to indicate that he was annoyed at how the fight was going at that point, and while he eventually went on to dominate Judah, those early rounds made him look surprisingly vulnerable at points. It wasn't just because Judah was a southpaw, though -- it was the combination of the southpaw stance, the speed and the fact that Judah was fighting so defensively.

There's also the fact that apparently Judah had sparred Mayweather before they actually fought, so he already had a sense for Floyd's style and how best to try and deal with it.

 

Judah had two good rounds in that fight, but they were arguably the two most effective rounds anyone has had against Mayweather. Once Mayweather won the 3rd round and then Judah came back and won the 4th, I thought Judah was going to win. Then the 5th and 6th round happened and I knew it was over.

 

I think these are HIGHLY overlooked factors in how that fight played out. Floyd did look bothered though.. Judah came out smart being the defensive one against Floyd.