Can Floyd fight Ten more years ala Hopkins?...

I honestly have no idea if he will or not.
Its 50/50 to me, so far has has not really adapted his defense to aging but he has had no need to.

What i do question is his motivation to fight at old age which i really doubt he will.

 

Because he's fighting smaller, older fighters, and he's fighting every 2 or 3 years, and he fights in a style which makes me think he hasn't adjusted enough to the aging process. He's still relying on his reflexes, and this is something Roy Jones Jr made the mistake of doing and this is why Mosley almost knocked him out.

To fight as an older fighter you have to rely on tricks, such as Holyfield, Hopkins using their head, or the grappling head tactics of a Ward who I think could fight into old age, or the outright genius of James Toney's traps and counters.

I don't think Floyd fights often enough to do it and I also don't think his body is the type to last. He's a small fragile body type and those body types typically can't fight into their 40s. SRL didn't, DLH didn't, it's body type. It's also chin, if you get old you have to have a good chin while if you're young you don't. And finally it's his current tactics, he slips punches but he doesn't block them, he wont be able to slip punches when he's 40, he doesn't always keep his hands up, or his chin down like Hopkins, and he can't fight like James Toney because he doesn't have the body type of James Toney.

I think we are seeing the best of Floyd right now. By 35 he will be shot. By 36 he will have nothing left. By 40 he will be getting knocked out by janitors. And the only way I see him fixing this is if he completely changes his style in the Ortiz fight and fights in a more rough, tough, way which means he needs a better body attack, he needs to slow the fight down more, he needs to keep his chin down and hands up more, he needs to jab more, hold after throwing his flurries, etc.

 

A broken rib.

 

Out of Floyds entire career the only smaller fighter he has ever fought is Jesus Chavez and Juan Manuel Marquez.

How exactly was Mosley smaller? And how exactly is Ortiz older?

Alright never mind then.

 

A rumor in sparring before he fought Marquez. After the fight what injuries did he sustain.

 

You forgot about Ricky Hatton? You forgot about Zab Judah? Carlos Bouldamir? Gatti?

 

... thats 3-4 fights .... sure he can
and finally we will see Hopkins-Mayweather in the summer of 2021.

 

That "boxing is declining" tune is getting old. Today's top fighters would be competitive in any era.

 

None of those guys were smaller then Floyd. Gatti, Hatton, Judah, and Baldomir outweighed Floyd on fight night.

 

MW...how old are you?

 

Hatton was a weight class smaller. Judah is naturally smaller and older. Baldomir was completely shot.

 

there is nothing you have said that he could or would do. i think you under estimate PBF ring iq . . . he made adjustments after getting clocked by SSM and then dominated the fight. PBF always dictates the pace of the fight, which gives every indication that he could slow it down if he needed to

I think the lighter weight class is the more obvious thing that might hold him back, not because he slows so much but rather they are so much faster in the lower weight classes. I also agree that he needs to be more active. but he is a lot closer to Bhp and toney than RJJ in the overall skills deptmant

 

I'm not talking about adjustments which rely on his superior reflexes and timing like the adjustments in the Mosley and Judah fight, I'm talking about the king of adjustments Andre Ward makes when facing a fighter faster than him, stronger than him, with better reflexes than him, like in the Kessler fight or the Miranda fight or just about any of his recent fights. He's not beating guys with athleticism, but with tactics. The same way Bernard Hopkin's has been beating guys, and Evander Holyfield, with tactics. Such as knowing when to grab and hold, knowing how to hit behind the head, how to headbutt, how to lowblow when the ref isn't looking, how to rest on the ropes, how to take away the opponents speed, power, athleticism.

So far Floyd hasn't had to ever fight like this because he's always as fast, or has better timing, or has better reflexes than his opponent. That's going to start changing and when it does he's going to start getting hit clean more often, start getting hurt more often, and by then it's too late to adapt. He doesn't fight often enough to make the adaptation over the period of the next two years either.

 

Zab was faster than Floyd.


As for having tactics, here is some visual education:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imwGeX1SRFk[/ame]

 

You have to have heart and love for the game to work as hard as he does.