pot shotting their way to victory? Let's take for example Mosley, had he pot shotted against Winky could he have won? If he would have shot and ran rather than try to find a way to land combos or hard punches he wouldn't of been hit as much. How about De La Hoya vs Hopkins, what if he would have flingged out a jab and moved away rather than trying to fight. Might have been a different outcome. And Meldrick Taylor would be an obvious one.
No, because Mosley is better when he is being aggressive and trading, doing his "power-boxing". He is not as effective on the backfoot and using lateral movement. De La Hoya did the best he could against Hopkins, trying to jab and pot-shot against Hopkins wasn't likely to work because Hopkins was actually doing the better work with his jab. Meldrick Taylor didn't have to pot-shot, but he should have done more in-and-out movement against Chavez. He did it at times but often stayed there at range, comfortable because he was outlanding Chavez, but Chavez's harder shots were gradually doing the serious damage. And maybe Taylor wanted to stay there to give his legs a little bit of rest. Taylor in general should have done more in and out movement, but he was too much of a brawler for his own good. Too much Philly gym war mentality. Roy Jones was an example of a guy who like Floyd, was good at pot-shotting.
Great post EB. Pot shotting to victory takes a ton of talent and conditioning, and this fact is often overlooked due to the fact that a lot of fans cant stand pot shotters.
The subject is not combination punching. It's about pot-shotting. Floyd and Roy stand out among recent fighters in that regard. And Roy was a better combination puncher than Mayweather, who argues against that? He did struggle at times to get combos together in certain fights. It's very difficult to use them effectively and consistently each time out. You're most likely going to have some off-nights.
Wright was too big for Mosley and Hopkins too big for DLH. P4P Mosley would beat Wright. P4P you'd have to suspect DLH would beat an old Hopkins. A young Hopkins is a different matter. Floyd doesn't just win because he pot shots and is fast. Floyd sense of distance and timing is sublime. His arsenal to head and body is complete. His footwork educated and technically sound. Floyds pot shotting has become more apparent at 147 and 154 but that isn't really his approach. He is facing bigger fighters now, you hit harder and can take his shots better. Thus he is playing it safer. If you don't have these characteristics ala Mitchell then you'll get a better performance.
