There's no never in this sport, a well placed punch by a sufficiently powerful puncher will knock you out. Hearns had Duran out of there in 2 - Duran was defensively as good as anyone that has ever fought, had an iron chin and a counter right to gain anyone's respect. I say given such motivation, Hearns and Robinson could do it.
This is an interesting if somewhat impossible question. The only contenders i see are: Tommy Hearns - Based off the Hagler fight where it was a helluva war with an all time Great Middleweight Champion. He nearly got the job done against Hagler, so i suppose you might give him a chance against mayweather, although a running mayweather is a competely different proposition. tommy has beaten several fighters in a round but none were in Mayweathers class. Stanley Ketchell had a fearsome reputation, but there were not many 1 rounders on there. The Mike Sullivan KO in one was the one exception. Sullivan was a tough fighter who d have had a chance against Mayweather, but he wasnt as good or the same style. I cant see this happening. Sam Langford is a popular name. But even looking at his record, there are not to many KO1s, particularly at the lighter weight. His wins over Mike Schrek and Jim Flynn, were ineresting but he was a touch over weight for these fights. perhaps the KO2 vs Elbows McFadden indicates a chance also. Still, particualrly with mayweather moving, this seems an absolutely massive ask for Langford. Not very likely at all. Terry McGovern has to be the most proven chance on paper. He has a string of KO1s against verry good fighters. He also knocked out an all time great in Joe Gans in 2. His record shows that he might be a decent chance. The problem, is that he really was too light, and also Mayweiather sounds an awful lot like an even better version of Young Corbett who ultimately derailed mcGoverns golden KO run with victories over him. Depite the potential, Mayweather probably is the favourite, even as inexperienced light weight, against McGovern. McGovern does still have the chance though. Ray Robinson - Is considered by most to be the greatest ever. He has a few ko 1 results and he would be bigger, fighting at welter or light middle. The problem is that none of the KO 1 are against fighters even close to the reputation of mayweather. Ray does have the speed and power to do it, but it really wouldnt seem very likely at all. Bob Fitzsimmons - Has a string of first round KOs, though none are really of the callibre of Mayweather. Peter maher is an inteersting Ko1 victim though. He was a heavyweight title claimant, so presumably had a much better chin than mayweather, although to offset this, Fitz was too heavy for this fight, to fight Mayweather. Fitz has beat fighters in the same class as mayweather before, even with his speed and style. But, it has always taken more than a round with those fighters. His best argument is probably that he has proven one punch KO power against elite chins and he will come in, inhis prime, at the perfect weight to face the weakest version of Mayweather under these rules. He ahs also fought under these rules regularly, albeit usually giving 4 rounds not 1. I think he has a chance.
Margarito...with special wraps Tszyu could surprise De La Hoya and Leonard were fast and clever enough...if they go all out for 1 round it would be amazing to see.
I think people in this thread are forgetting that Mayweather isn't just going to stand there and hope for the best while fighter X just unloads He happens to be one of the best ever with regards to ring generalship and counter punching in addition to his ATG defence and ring IQ yeah, he isn't getting KO'd in one.
Hearns would come out blazing. Floyd liked a controlled pace. Hearns could hit him from a safe distance . Floyd would be physically mismatched.
Jackson and Hearns have a good chance, Floyd's only a little guy and never had to deal with guys like that. Pure fantasy that Floyd definitely survives those guys.
Thinking exactly the same. This thread proves how ridiculously overrated Mayweather is. When did he ever see anyone like Prime Hearns or Jackson? Not to mention Duran, whose feints would seriously trouble Mayweather. Duran probably doesn't KO him in the 1st, Hearns or Jackson absolutely could.
I think you're forgetting that Floyd isn't going to be able to just stand and roll punches from someone who knows they have 3 minutes to knock him out for 10 million. Good luck trying to hold on to a frenzied Duran or Julian Jackson either in this situation. He's going to be forced to fire back with so much leather flying at him, and that's when he's most likely to get kayoed.
What about his foot speed? Clinching? Ducking, slipping, blocking? What about the other fighter's stamina? What about the use of forearms, elbows etc that Mayweather often used to great effect to disrupt the other guy and prevent them punching? What about his unbelievable counter punches and patience in close? So many variables here If all someone had to do was fight like a wildman in order to score KO's, loads of people would do it or try it And yeah I'm aware of the stipulation about the 10 million. I think not wanting to get creamed is also ample motivation to not want to get knocked out
So many variables exactly, there are guys who Floyd will find it easier to do some of that to and guys he wouldn't. He never fought anyone remotely like a Hearns, Jackson, Duran, Robinson in their prime, and if it turns in to a crazy brawl which it would in this scenario, Floyd's not coming out on top against any of those.
there's coming out on top....and lasting 3 minutes. Fighters a lot less gifted than Mayweather could survive any of those guys in the first round, it's like betting on a football team to score six goals against Man City because City can only have 8 players or something....I would still say it's unlikely because regardless of numerical advantage, City are still the best team in the league. They should be able to survive that half without conceding that many. Not the best comparison I admit, but hopefully you catch my drift. Those guys you mentioned are ATG's....but so is Mayweather, and ATG's are ATG's for a reason. They don't get sparked very often, especially if they're in pure defense mode, which in this scenario, Mayweather very well could be I just don't see this as being an achievable task to be honest. And just for the record, Maidana is no world beater but that's pretty much the closest example I can think of someone going all out balls to the wall the way this thread is proposing....it doesn't work out in real life the way you think it would on a fight night video game or something similar. If going all out was a legitimate tactic that actually had a chance to work against top flight opposition, it would be tried much more often. About a solid 90 seconds of this hypothetical round (at least) would be spent clinching and wrestling against the ropes or in the centre of the ring....plus the ref breaks which would allow Mayweather to get distance and dance some more and move around the ring you're looking at about 30 more seconds all together. That's already two minutes. That leaves one minute without accounting for the fact that punching non stop and swinging for the fences is really, really hard and these fighters are unlikely to be able to keep the same zip on their punches while chasing, moving, cutting the ring off, tying up etc. All of the odds favour Mayweather in this scenario
I’m reserving my judgment until after the Logan Paul fight. We may see this first round KO happen for reals.
