Castillo was better. Corrales was better. The DLH that Floyd fought KO's Cotto. Hernandez was better. Marquez was better.
But he really is the best Floyd will be facing. A pure, solid boxer-puncher. Fact This was why Oscar Dela Hoya ducked him. And Cotto isn't as shot as others may claim. Fact
De La Hoya was a tougher matchup and better fighter then Cotto is. More size, better jab, left hook, better defense, better chin, more accomplished.
He was also a part time fighter, and a safety first fighter at the time. But it's all speculation anyway. Was still a huge win for Floyd.
Match up wise he will always give Mayweather problems for the fact that Sr taught him a lot of Mayweather's defensive tactics. Being safety first with a sharp jab and reach while being hard to get to himself due to his size is ideally what you would want when facing someone like Mayweather. The way he was picking off Mayweather's punches is what made the fight as competitive as it was.
His stiff jab is what kept him in the fight more then anything Sr. did. I never thought Sr. did that great a job w/ DLH. By the time they got together, DLH had 4-5 trainers over his career, and was the fighter he was already.
That may be true, I think Sr installed defense a little more into his mentality though. The jab was tight but he always had a stiff jab. I think the combo of the stiff jab, defensive principals and size made it the tougher match up.
Maybe, but he has been through a lot of wars so its possible he felt he needed some more rest. Not like he wasn't motivated for the Mayweather fight or looking down on Mayweather. Mayweather def gave him a lot of motivational ammo to be focused and hungry for that fight. But yea he didn't have it in him to work for 12 hard rds anymore.
atsch Yeah, because that version was better then the more experienced version at 147 who beat Shane. Ripcity...poster of the year folks! :roll: