Something around 8.5. He's not perfect. Guys like Marquez or Barrera are better combinations puncher. A guy like Pacquiao's got a better combo of speed/power. That being said, Floyd can throw every punch near perfectly. He's got great hand speed and precision and he throws the right punch at the good moment. He's got good power, but not not enough to be a 10 in the offensive department.
i voted 8...he has every shot in the book and he could be a more aggressive fighter but he prefers to be selective with his punches. a perfect round or floyd is make an opponant miss 20 times and land 10 times.
This thread is ******ed on multiple levels. First being that Clottey has a poor offense. Did the author see the beating Clottey put on Cotto? Both Clottey and Floyd are defense first fighters (especially Clottey) but that doesn't mean they are lacking in the ability to be offensive or in offensive skill. You should've had a guy like Chavez junior or Edision Miranda at the #1 position. Both those guys are woefully one dimensional and under skilled for being professional fighters. But ranking Clottey at #1 based off of the Pacquiao fight because he didn't want to open himself up to take punishment is ridiculous. Under the same rationale, you can say that Mosely has a terrible offense because he didn't present much offense against Pacquiao either.
Around 8, I guess. Beautiful form/technique, accurate, great timing, great speed. Also, just because he mainly counter punches, that doesn't mean it doesn't count as offence, guys. Counter-punching uses the opponent's aggression against them, so it's not the same as a direct, initial attack, but it's still an offensive action. Any time you attempt to punch someone it counts as offence, regardless of how you set it up. Floyd can lead as well as counter, though -- he's just better at countering. In terms of specific stuff -- very nice pull-counter, right-hand lead and leaping left-hook. He unfortunately neglects the jab, and I haven't seen enough of his uppercut or right-hook to judge them. He doesn't throw enough combinations, however, and because his offence output is so low, it means it leaves him vulnerable to high workrate fighters who can steal rounds. He doesn't punch much to the body. He sometimes telegraphs his right-hand lead by crouching forward, hands low, waiting for a jab so he can counter it and slip away. He also seemed momentarily puzzled against Judah when Judah forced him to initiate the action -- he was getting countered and actually outboxed for a few rounds before he began dominating. One thing I've been thinking about recently -- how many good defensive fighters has Floyd actually faced? I say this because I'm genuinely curious to see how his style matches up against someone who is actually good at slipping, parrying, rolling, etc. Hoya isn't known as a defensive fighter, and yet he actually blocked or slipped quite a few of Floyd's shots, even making him miss about four shots in a row at one point. People laugh at the idea of Floyd against Clottey, but I'm curious to see how Floyd would handle that tight shell guard. He would have to take a lot more chances and go to the body much more.
the only slight knock, and could be due to his hands and/or recent years opponents (other that JMM of course, who IMO he carried) being much bigger, is reluctance to lay into dudes like he did at lighter weights.
Being a feather fisted Welterweight like Floyd automatically gets you a score below 5. He couldn't stop Judah, c'mon now.
think about it.. that woudl be considered shooting pecentage whcih kobe/floyd always have high #'s for pacquiao / lebron might shoot horribly that night even though they still win
Excellent post. Yeah, Clottey is in the same boat as Mayweather. Defensive minded but when he does throw, he's very accurate and can touch you up with every punch in the book. So if you rate Mayweather high, you have to rate Clottey high.