Better defense Whitaker or Mayweather

I don`t want to ruin the thread but just need to say... he had plenty of opportunity vs the man who was voted FOTD in floyds own era... he lacked the ambition & drive often found in elite ATGs to get the man in the ring & do his thing... he cannot get a free pass after such actions, especially vs a proven elite ATG like Pernell Whitaker.

 

Something told me I shouldn't word it that way...

I'll rephrase: Floyd didn't fight against a level of opponents as impressive. He chose not to take the dangerous fights and top rated guys.

 

Yep, El Duran was le Man :good

 

Floyd has a better guard as far as head shots go, but he has been raked to the body by a few fighters and is way more hittable there than Whitaker.

I can't think of a time Pea took more than a couple good shots to the body in any single fight, and that's with facing some really body punchers, like Chavez, Vasquez, Haugen, Ramirez.

Compare Floyd versus Castillo, Hatton, Chavez, Cotto.

Not sure how Floyd's D is more "varied" either....

 

It's close, but I'd say Whitaker. Mayweather is better at offense, mainly because unlike Whitaker he does not have pea-shooters for fists.

Despite having so little power, Sweet Pea was more entertaining because of his work-rate and willingness to take risks.

 

Don't think Floyd has taken that many clean blows to the body. Castillo and Cotto, for example, had some succes in trapping him against the ropes and belting at what they could. But for being in that position I think Floyd did a good job avoding really damaging blows.

The difference between them here is probably rather that Whitaker's generalship made sure he rarely ended up in such a position. But Chavez sure landed some.

With "more varied" I mean how Floyd uses gloves, shoulders and elbows as well as angling of his torso to block and deflect blows. Pea put more focus on head movement IMO. Floyd is the best I've seen at not getting hit clean without moving any part of his body more or less.

 

I urge you to rewatch it instead.:good

Castillo had more success landing clean in their first fight than Cotto ever did. He was allowed to hold and hit quite a lot, though.

 

Yes but, unless I'm misremembering, Whitaker wasn't as accurate as Mayweather.

 

Not many considering the position Floyd was in. The large majority of Cotto's punches were either blocked or deflected - entirely or partly. That's largely why Cotto won so few rounds, despite being the aggressor and more active. Floyd just needed to finish most rounds with a couple of clean head shots to win them even though he spent most of them on the ropes.

Just to clarify: I'm of course not saying PBF couldn't be hit clean with body shots. He could and was - just like every fighter. But he was better at deflecting or blocking them probably than any I've ever seen.

 

You're a big Pea fan, I see. Think you're right in what you say about Floyd here, but you're overrating Pea a bit. He was very good but no Ricardo Lopez in terms of punching technique. If Floyd is over-reliant on his straight right, Pea used his too seldom. Preferred to loop it instead.