That ko by to Carter was a fluke...by 1966, when he beat Dick Tiger...on that same form he would have outclassed Carter as well. Griffith was a great, underrated fighter. He would have given Floyd a boxing lesson....plus he was at least three or four times stronger than Mayweather.
Yes, the Carter defeat was a fluke - which was the point I was trying to make! I don't really see, how he's giving Floyd a boxing lesson. And as for Griffith being 3 or 4 times stronger than Mayweather… well, he obviously wasn't, so I don't know, why you would say that.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Floyd is one of the premier fighters of his time and I personally rank him in the top 50 all-time but always said I’ll wait until 3-4 years after his career to try and truly assess him. I’ve got to say I don’t know if he had the intangibles to be a champion or a defining champion in eras such as the 40s, 50s, 60s. He’d have to fight too many different styles, too many complete fighters in their primes and I am highly suspicious of his careful tendencies in trying to keep his opponents to specific styles or handicaps and wait them out. Maybe he’d be different if he was in a different era but if it’s something intangible within him then I’m just not sure he makes the mark. There’s other guys who I’d probably regard as lower in an all-time sense from around his era that I don’t have those doubts about. Griffith IMO is all wrong for him and Id give him next to no chance with Rodriguez. At 135 does he beat Joe Brown? I’m not so sure. Does he beat Carlos Ortiz? No. Loi at 140? I’m not so sure either. Does he fight them? Not so sure.
Being smarter than Victor Ortiz and Roberto Guerrero doesn't even remotely imply that you might be smarter than Emile Griffith. Mayweather never fought anybody to prepare him to fight Griffith.
He was much stronger than Mayweather...he was able to outstrength Dlck Tiger for God's sakes...come on man, are you new to boxing or something?
Griffith was under the old weigh in rules was the physically strongest welterweight I have seen on film. The guy had a set of shoulders like a light heavyweight. Even fighters like Briscoe, Tiger and Monzon struggled with Emile’s sheer physical strength when Emile was past his best. Mayweather would have to try and keep the fight at range using his speed advantage and his jab to try and emulate a SRL vs Hagler type fight in my opinion. Luiz Rodrigues always troubled the life out of Emile with his foot speed and jab so Mayweather would no doubt attempt to pull of that kind of fight vs Griffith. If Floyd ended up with his back to the ropes for long periods of time it would be a very long night for him in my opinion. Griffith by close decision say is my pick. Cheers All.
So if someone doesn't agree with you, you think he must be new to boxing? Jesus... I watched Griffith from ringside as far back as 1963... 56 years ago! Anyway, I have just re-watched Tiger-Griffith I on YouTube. Round after round followed pretty much the same pattern: Griffith slowly retreating, with Tiger slowly following him around the ring. Most of the action took place at long range, where Griffith obviously preferred to be. Strangely, Tiger didn't even attempt to cut off the ring on his opponent... and with his superior footwork, Griffith easily managed to keep out of harm's way, while at the same time doing just enough to eke out a close decision. In the end, he was just too fast for the one-paced champion. How anyone can watch this fight, and claim they are seeing Griffith "outstrength" his opponent, is beyond me! I know, that Griffith is seen as an enormously strong fighter! But while he had this very broad back and shoulders, tapering down to a wasp-like waist, which made him look amazing… he was actually very delicately build. Not massively muscled at all. Think about it: when he stepped up to challenge Tiger for the middleweight crown, he weighed in at 150½ lbs. Can you imagine a welterweight champion today, who would come in this light, if he went up to middleweight for a title fight? That would be unheard of! And after years as a middleweight, he came in as low as 144½ when he returned to welter for the Napoles fight. So he wasn't really a massive middle or even welter - in fact, he would probably have little trouble making junior welter today. Now I'm not saying, that Griffith was a weakling, which he obviously wasn't. He WAS indeed very strong for his weight (and I agree, stronger than Mayweather)… but he probably wouldn't be the physically strongest opponent Floyd has ever faced. Canelo is much more massively build, and likely entered the ring against Mayweather at around 165 lbs (at least!). And in his first fight against Maidana, Floyd met a very aggressive, physical opponent who outweighed him 165 to 148, by fight time. Yes, yes, I know, Maidana is no Griffith... but physically strong opponents are not unknown to Mayweather.
I personally don't rank Mayweather that high all-time at welterweight (outside top 20 anyway). He was much better down at super featherweight and lightweight. That doesn't mean that Griffith, an all-time top 10 welterweight, automatically beats him though. However, I think Griffith has the stature to do it. Mayweather's biggest wins at 147 were Hatton, Marquez and Pacquiao, guys who were smaller and with relatively short reaches. Griffith would be physically about the same size as Mayweather, with good boxing ability and almost certainly superior strength. I think that Mayweather was slick enough to keep it close and Griffith's power would probably be underutilised so I don't see a stoppage here, but Griffith had the size, strength, skills and smarts to make things very uncomfortable for Floyd. I pick a close decision win for Griffith as the more proven fighter at this weight, although I wouldn't bet my house on it.
