Seeing birds after the headbutt maybe. But that wasn't a stun. Floyd was toying with him right before the headbutt.
Seeing Floyd Sr talk about how Jr got hit to much in the Cotto fight and needs to get back to being more defensive reminds me of when Alton Merkerson said long before the Ruiz fight that he saw Jones getting hit with punches he used to never get hit with. Now Mayweather is bragging about how he has had the best training camp ever and is in the best shape ever. Reminds me of so many fighters in the past that can't admit to their decline really and are trying to full themselves and the fans eat it up. He probably will not lost Saturday, but all the fans eating up the talk about the best training camp ever and think they will see a completely different Floyd in the rind may get disappointed.
Kinda agree that he might be losing a little of his speed, but I don't think he gets hurt in that Gif. He's moving back and bending at the waist with the punches as fast as Ortiz advances, taking most of the force outta them, then covering up- beautiful movement actually, TBH.... even though I'm not that keen on him. I woulda liked to see what would have happened if it'd carried on though, cos' I don't think he was putting much hurt on Ortiz either.. S*** how many edits... If fact IMO it was Ortiz' frustration at not being able to land clean that led to the butt if anything...
Nobody is not saying he isn't declining but don't act like he is 1 baby step away from being put to sleep. His defensive skills are always there and his chin is very solid. IMO, if he should ever be KO'd its not gonna happen any time soon.
I'm not saying that at all. I'm saying he has been clearly rocked in the past and with what I see as a decline of his speed, legs, and reflexes he could easily be caught with something that changes the whole fight. It could be a knockout or it could cause him to go in a defensive shell and not put out enough offense to win a decision. Nobody was predicting Roy Jones would lose either. Hell, he had never really been rocked his whole career and had just done something incredible in moving up to heavyweight. Yet, when you go back and look at it now, you can see a sharp decline and anything can happen. Just saying I wouldn't be surprised to see him lose.
The infamous right hook that supposedly had Floyd reeling/shook/hurt?! I see a punch that slipped through the defense and didn't land solidly. I see Floyd not even remotely bothered.
Yeah, I hear you.. I was refering to the Griffin and Hill stoppages as his "early" days at the weight.. Those two really were the last couple shots where they were actually unable to get up.. Even the Kelly stoppage, I felt he could have got up, but was just overwhelmed and decided to stay down. He really did play it safe for a while, which I have heard him saying he didn't want to hurt his hands.. He could have had a much higher KO rate had he kept throwing to end fights.
Yeah - essentially, he was gunshy, whether it was a fear of him hurting his hands or of getting caught and becoming like Gerald McClellan.
Hell no, this is what I can't stand with some you Floyd stans. Give Ortiz credit where its due. I keep hearing stans say "Ortiz was getting his ass kicked"....show me that he was getting his ass kicked. Ortiz made it competitive until he wanted to street fight in the ring.
Mayweather has had significant physical decline since his peak around 2005. But I have not seen a great deal of physical decline since he came back in 2009. I actually expect him to improve physically if he fights 6 times in 30 months. By his 3rd or 4th fight he will be very sharp. Even with the physical decline, he is arguably a better boxer. He is smarter and more experienced and he uses his resources more judiciously now. He knows exactly what he has in the tank, knows when to use it and always keeps a reserve. I don't agree that there has been any significant decline since 2009. People say he doesn't move around the ring anymore, but he really never has. Floyd just doesn't fight in a style where he consistently moves out of punching range for 12 rounds. The only fight I can remember that Floyd fought a style like that was Corralles. Look at his fights since 2005: Gatti -- I think he peaked around Gatti. To my eye, he was sharper against Gatti than any other opponent with the possible exception of Corrales. That said he is going to look sharper when he has a speed advantage and he did in both counts. He stood right in front of Gatti nearly the entire fight. His foot movements were sharp pivots and he came forward a portion of the fight. Sharmba Mitchell -- He could have peaked here, He didn't look as sharp as he did against Gatti, but he moved up in weight and was fighting a considerably faster opponent. Sharmba was fighting the entire fight moving backwards. Floyd was moving forward nearly the entire fight. Zab -- I wouldn't argue if someone said he peaked here. Same deal faster opponent. Zab was moving backwards and Floyd was coming forward nearly the entire fight. Baldomir -- Floyd looked sharp against a slower opponent. Watch it again. He stands in front of Baldomir nearly all night. He only dances in the 12th round. He also decides to go to the ropes a few times. De La Hoya -- Floyd fights more stationary. He Is in punching distance of De La Hoya the entire night. Even at a decline in his career, Oscar is clearly the best opponent he has faced and Oscar is able to cut off the ring, better than any other opponent. Physical decline? I don't think so. I think Oscar was tough. I also think some of the sting comes off Floyds punches against opponents at 154 (who are 160+ on fight night) Hatton -- Floyd moved more in this fight than any other since Castillo largely because Hatton was trying to maul him. There were one or two rounds, where Floyd took a break and danced around the ring, but other than that he was in punching range nearly the entire fight. If he had physical decline in the De La Hoya fight, why did he move so much more 7 months later against Hatton. Marquez -- Floyd looked sharp. Moved well, but didn't dance around the ring. He was in punching range the entire fight. According to compubox, this was Floyds best offensive and defensive fight since Gatti. 4 years later and after a nearly 2 year retirement. Mosely -- Floyd looked really sharp here. He moved his feet very little, considerably less, but not because of physical decline. Floyds gameplan was to stay in the middle of the ring and off the ropes against Mosely Floyd Sr. thought that Mosely was dangerous if Floyd was against the ropes. Ortiz -- Floyd moves more against Ortiz than he did against Mosely 16 months earlier, but people say his feet are slowing down. Floyd sat down on his punches against Ortiz which made him move his feet less. But he realized he didn't have to move his feet as much against Ortiz. If you gross up Ortiz's statistics over 12 rounds, he landed fewer punches than Marquez. It baffles me why they think Ortiz did anything offensively in that fight other than land a good headbutt. Cotto -- Floyd moves more in the Cotto fight than he did against Ortiz, but people still say his feet are slowing. Similar to ODLH Cotto is coming at him at 154 (more than 160 on fight night) and can absorb the punishment better than those at 147. Simlar to ODLH Cotto knows how to cut off the ring. Similar to ODLH, Cotto is one of the top 5 opponents Floyd has faced. Statistically Cotto landed 3% more punches than the average punches landed on Floyd since Ndou but landed 50 fewer punches than the average. That's not a decline when you consider that Mosely landed punches at the same rate and Cotto is near the top of the opposition that Mayweather faced. To sum it up, I don't see significant physical decline in Mayweather since 2009 Floyd doesn't dance for 12 rounds. Never really has. He is in punching range for 2 minutes 30 seconds of each round and has been fighting in that style since the Castillo fights. Statistically his opponents still land less than 20% of their punches.