Henry Armstrong would break Mayweather down in 9!

He had that disadvantage against every of his ww opponents and it did not matter. And there were some fighters like Barney Ross that are just better fighters than Mayweather.

 

all i can say judging from the clips of him, he isnt really fast on his feet at all. mayweather on the otherhand has very fast on his feet and can evade those kind of situations where he will be engaged in a war. armstrongs guard is also non-existant. where is the defence? the punches are wide as well, combinations are also very slow. i hesitate to even call them combinations as the next punch comes like a second later. armstrong is ready to be countered all night long.

 

most of my knowledge of ross is from books, articles and reviews of old fights. i'm not qualified to report on him as a fighter as i've seen only limited footage. style-wise, was he just made for armstrong?

 

i have to respectfully disagree. much like frazier and duran, armstrong had a subtle defense often hid and overshadowed behind his brutality. he had swift head movement and the ability to close the distance in a heartbeat. as for combination punching, i'll also disagree as he was brilliant on the inside, short, powerful hooks one after the other soundly

 

agree to disagree?

 

Ross was a boxer-puncher but more a boxer than a puncher. And when you go by the old "a pressure fighter beats a boxer who beats a puncher who beats a pressure fighter" than yeah, Ross had a small style disadvantage. But Armstrong came up from featherweight to fight Ross, a genuine Top10/15 atg, and beat him to a pulp.

 

fair enough:good

 

I'm with you. I think a lot of boxing fans overrate legendary old-school fighters... I don't know whether it's out of respect for your elders or to prove that they know more about sport/followed the sport longer than others.. or what?... I don't know what it is.. but I watch clips of some of these fighters from 50's and back and fail to see the explosiveness or athleticism of today's fighters. And the opposition they faced back then look MUCH weaker.

Human beings are still physically evolving. Look at the average height of men 200 years ago compared to today. It's staggering. Better training techniques, better conditioning, modern medicine and advances in technology give today's fighters a big advantage IMO. Bigger, stronger, faster, more athletic..

 

You should pay more attention. Armsrong had superb head movement and judge of distance. His combinations on the inside were tremendous. And he was not fast on his feet? How comes that no mover beat him in his prime? The only one who did beat him in that time was Fritzie Zivic who blinded Armstrong by thumbing him.

 

thanks for the insight:good i assume though you mean top 10 at that weight? either way i also think you're analysis of rock-paper-scissors styles (what beats what) is dead on for the most part

 

No, not for the weight. P4p. That's pretty much the consensus oppinion on Ross.

 

really? i've heard him ranked top 30 before but never that high. yet another accolade for homicide...

 

I'm no old timer, but i know a great fighter when i see one. When the old timers say Armstrong, Duran, Benny Leonard, Ike Williams, etc could of beaten Floyd it's because they might of actually done it and they are not just talking out of their asses.

Take this fight for instance. Many people here also have this notion that fighters back then weren't as strong or physically as big as fighters today. Just for an example to debunk this myth (no i ain't a mythbuster, but i'm not a nutbuster like many of floyd's and vitali's fans either) here Ike Williams and Beau Jack easily look more like junior welters and look more like Timothy Bradley or a Juan Urango if not bigger and both those guys are huge muscularly even for today's junior welter. The speed Ike Williams had in that stoppage was ridiculous and easily matched Floyds. Many people here really need to do their homework.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z01Ph7YkQY[/ame]

 

Mayweather's tendency to start slow and Armstrong's pace play into Armstrong's hands. At least at the begaining. However Mayweather is one of the best at adapting mid fight. Armstrong's come forward non stop punching style gives Mayweather opertunities to counter. The result is going to come down to how many of the early rounds was Armstrong able to win.