This content is protected Love him or hate him, one has to admit Floyd's boxing is simply phenomenal from a purely technique point of view. Just look at the jab in the first few seconds of the video: it sounds like a damn whip, or a towel cracking in a high school boy's locker room. There isn't an active fighter today whose jab looks anywhere near as sharp. He's 42 and in better shape than active boxers half his age. There is no wind up, or telegraphing like a shoulder bump or tensing up before he delivers it. It goes to show that despite literally coming from a family of boxers, Floyd did not inherit his greatness. Again, like the guy or not, one has to acknowledge that he is a gym rat who has spent countless hours working on his technique and form. Possibly the most disciplined fighter of all time as far as a boxing life style is concerned. Most child hood super stars burn out after a certain age. Most fighters lose their hunger after winning their first belt. And considering his less than stellar beginnings with a broken home, it's especially noteworthy he has maintained that discipline even with millions in the bank and retired. I haven't seen anything like it. Grit, hard work, and the madness that comes with seeking the unattainable that is perfection are all qualities that cannot be taught or inherited, you either have it or you don't.
I agree with what you wrote. Its uncommon for someone to stay that focused after many years at the top. The temptations, the $, most of us would get fat. He reminds me of Kobe Bryant in that respect. He kept the basketball #1 regardless of what fluff was being pushed in his face. I admired both of those athletes on that count.
If you look at some of my early threads and posts, in the few years immediately beyond my join date - I hated Mayweather, as in actively rooted against him and wanted to see him lose as much as the next guy. Somewhere along the way (circa the Hatton/JMM/Mosley run - actually, here, pinpointed it) he begrudgingly won my respect, but I was a hard sell. Crazy thinking back, if you told IB from 2006 he would someday have a reputation (among PBF haters) of white-knighting for him, that IB would have laughed his ass off at such a ludicrous notion. There's a certain point at which you just have to acknowledge the undeniably sui generis hard work put in to, yes, be the best. There was a period of time where he was posting live streams of all his workouts, and - Jesus. The man was a beast in the gym, and didn't take it the least bit easy on himself, even when prepping for a blatant mismatch. I've never seen anyone quite like him, and I think you have to have seen him training in order to fully appreciate how and why he is so effective under the bright lights, and what all goes into that.
Interesting thread. I can't really add much about Floyd focus, work ethic, and perfectionism except to say that it's always fascinated me. I was also always fascinated by his love of fast food. I wonder if cutting loose with the occasional Big Mac & large fries was a way to keep his enthusiasm going while basically training 365 days a years since he was in pre-school. Maybe that's why he was never a guy who ballooned up between fights? He seemed to find a good balance between earning his occasional treats with lots of sweat in the gym. You get away with a Mcdonald meal and not feeling guilty if you do 12 rounds on the pads and a 5 mile run afterward. When you really think about it, that approach seems more destined for longevity and avoiding burnout that the guys who live off chicken and kale for six weeks and then stuff going on a months long junk food binge after the fight.
He's my H2H #1 at SFW, top 5 at 140 too. Awesome defence, footwork and ring IQ. His reflexes, co-ordination and balance are something to behold too. He might be a dick, but he's a great fighter and one who dedicated his entire life to boxing.
You know what would be a great match up? Mayweather vs Flash Elorde at 130. What a fast and tricky fight that would be!
I saw him fight live for the first time as an amateur in the early to mid 90's and he was a straight up beast of a fighter. Most kids are raised on cookies and milk, he was raised on fighting. Pretty unbelievable that he is now in his 40's and still hasn't lost.
Very underrated punch in general. In Floyd's case it was able to stop the iron chinned relentless Maidana dead in his tracks several times and he winced in pain. It's so simple yet so effective. I dont know why more boxers don't use it. I once watched an amateur fight and this skinny kid was about to square off with this husky bullish guy with strong calfs. My first thought was that the husky guy would show no respect to the other guy and just run him over, but within 8 seconds the skinny kid used a step in jab to the body and dropped his opponent. The whole audience Thought the same thing because they gasped. The husky kid was more surprised than hurt, and he protected his mid section for the rest of the fight.
The lunatic would actually chug bags of Skittles during his workouts, even as he outpaced all his training partners and left men ten years his junior choking on his dust. Super weird and interesting.
I don’t care what decade the man goes in he would always be a p4p top ten guy. Literally used every trick in the book. May have had a different record in other decades as he would have fought a lot more. Can’t say enough good things about Mayweather boxing skills
