Breakdown of defense by Mayweather, Whitaker, Toney and Hopkins.

Sweat Pea was a special kind of fighter. Some people are just born with it. the way he could get so low but keep balanced, the guy was a natural. I know Lou Duva didn't teach him that. That's most likely a result of rounds upon rounds of sparring, just working on his defense.

For Mayweather and Toney that's all Mongoose defense. Archie Moore may not have been the first to do it, because he said he took that style from his trainer, but he popularized it (I think). Toney added some Ezzard Charles stuff to his defense too but the shoulder role and the right hand deflecting punches from both hands is all Mongoose style.

Hopkins combines a little Mongoose, with some Jersey Joe movement and I guess he also moves a bit like Wilfredo Gomez at times to never let his opponent set their feet.

One thing is for sure though, all 4 of those fighters you mentioned have done the old school proud with their styles.

 

they all have great defenses and the above responses are very accurate. toney is much lazier than the other three, and has a found a style that fits him. it does not take the risks and reflexes of whitaker, nore the precision of mayweather. it's also not as disciplined as hopkins. his style is to roll with the punches to minimize the damage, and counter with harder punches.
mayweather uses a variety of defenses, based on his opponent. he generally fights south paws and quicker fighters with the high guard. slower fighters he can use his shoulder roll and philly shell very well. he doesn't counter very often in this mode, exept for uppercuts on the inside, but that's because he can generally generate offense without the counters against slower opponents.
whitaker is simply a man who possessed god-given talent. he also didn't blink much at all. it's easy to dodge punches that you SEE coming. many fighters blink on impact. it's human nature. he learned to defeat it. he also had great foot work. he seldomly ever squared up with his opponent or gave his opponent an big target to aim at.
Hopkins defense to me, though not the sweetest, is the best. in the last 10 years he's probably taken 10 real punches or glancing blows. he's a master of lateral movement, and dodges more punches than he blocks. he makes it look very easy and sticks to the basics. his tucked chin is very subtle, but does a lot to minimize head movement when someone actually does land a punch, which is why he's never in danger of being knocked out. he also uses the most feints, is notorious for his clinching. but the results speak for themselves. mayweather was stung in his last fight, and marquez landed shots against him despite not doing any damage, whitaker eventually took punishment in his latter fights, toney gets hit more often than the rest, but hopkins hasn't been hurt since 1994! speaks for itself.

 

I think Calzaghe hurt Hopkins, which speaks for itself :good

 

i find floyd to be a bit too mechanical with his defense. He always puts himself in the same positions every time he defends. Its effective but he could be more versatile.

Toney has the best shoulder roll defense I've ever seen.

Hopkins probably has the most fundamentally sound defense out there. He's very versatile. He can roll off shots, slip punches left and right, pick off and parry / counter. And he knows all the tricks of in-fighting. His schooling of Trinidad is boxing 101 at the top level.

 

One of my favorite boxing performances too.

 

Mongoose is just Archie Moore's nickname. The Mongoose.

 

Hopkins' defence is a masterclass in what boxing is all about.

It needs a thorough breakdown at some point. From somebody who is more knowledgable and a better analyist than me though.

 

Armstrong had the best shoulder roll defense IMO. He was actually able to use it effectively while going forwards against bigger fighters who were often also ATGs. Pay attention to Armstrong on the inside and it's amazing to see someone throw so many punches while taking so few clean in return, and he uses the shoulder roll most of the time. Other fighters who take a few less punches while throwing a whole lot less in return are less impressive especially when you compare quality of opposition.

Whitaker's defense is very different. Alot more about movement than position. Try to hit me if you can. As soon as he sees you throw something he moves somewhere completely different.

Hopkins' defense is all mental. He takes away a fighter's options before he even tries to use em.

 

This is interesting. Care to expand on it?

 

I believe this aswell. Not all mental, but partly. Because of his stance, the doesn't provide an openings for his opponent, the right hands always there to pick the left off, the shoulders always there to block the line of attack with the right and the left and footwork can control the body.

And I think his opponent is wary of that, and wary of the fact that he can counter them at any moment with crisp, precise power punches. I think this is part of the reason why Hopkins can make a fighters work-rate drop without seemingly doing anything spectacular.

I don't know if PH|LLA agrees with me on any of those points or if anyone else does, that's just my take.

 

Hopkins footwork is his main asset in defensive terms. In his prime it was flawless always had him in the right position and his opponent off-balance. Of course he had other attributes that added to his defence but his main asset IMO was always his footwork.