This was a favorite of his. He scored his iconic knockdown of Marquez with this punch and would constantly shoot it over southpaw jabs. It gradually got less and less use. Floyd tried it on Mosley early on, but Mosley did a great job of keeping his right hand high. Same story with Cotto. He got one or two in on Ortiz. The leaping left hook can be a very useful punch in his upcoming fight with southpaw Guerrero. Corley got beat up because of this shot, and Floyd landed it on Zab immediately after the starting bell rang.
He's not quite as explosive or as springy as he used to be. With him being more flat footed and keeping his foot movements to a minimum, I can kind of see why he doesn't employ it as much anymore.
Well you said it yourself cotto and Mosley were blocking the left hook. And a lead hook usually isn't gonna be as effective on a southpaw. Those left hooks he tagged judah with werent 'leaping left hooks' ,, he usually lead with the right hand and threw the left hook afterward. That's a classic combo on a southpaw.
Dude he's in a heavier weight class. That's not something he can do more. He has become a more defensive minded fighter the higher he moved up in case you didn't notice
Hoya kept his hands further from his face in preparation for parrying straight shots, which he did a great job of when he fought Floyd. The leaping hook was very effective for Floyd in that fight, showing itself as early as the first round. See here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcn6mMiI9mQ#t=35m54s Floyd uses a jab feint to set up his leaping hook. Oscar wanted to counter by hooking with Floyd but failed.
He simply doesn't use the same tool as much in every fight. Against certain fighters he jabs a lot, against other he prefers to lead with power shots, he doesn't approach every fight the same way.
I think you answered your own question in the first post. People have been watching for it and opponents have tailored their gameplans around dropping Mayweather's offensive arsenal, trying to force him out of his comfort zone. There is also the age and weight factor. He's obviously not going to move with the speed he had back in his lightweight days, so now he has to set it up a little more. He used to be able to land that shot from 2 feet back before a guy could react. Not so anymore.
Okay. It was harder to see the punch landing at first glance because they had little to no effect. Oscar blocked it with his hard ass face. :good
