Defensive Master - Whitaker vs Mayweather

Its hard to say, Whitaker had better head & body reflexes, Mayweather is better at blocking, rolling etc.

Whitaker fought better fighters & was a bit better overall so I gave him the vote... 2 of the best ever in this regard tho, there is no wrong answer.

 

1A and 1B in my lifetime.

Whitaker used his defense to set up combos. He got his opponent off-balance enough that he had time to fire back multiple shots. May uses his to set up potshots. A momentary opening is created; then he fires and re-sets.

That's the difference in my eyes, so I'm going with Whitaker.

 

No, please stop... Pea was not a whole class better defensively than Floyd, nobody in history was.... & Pea was better offensively than Floyd, far better combinations, better & more consistant jab & just threw more punches in general.

 

:adminatsch:nono

No, no, no

Mayweather (these days) is the better defender, Pea was by far the more complete fighter.

Locche was better than both defensively

 

What's amazing with Pea is that he can land 400-500 punches in a 12 round fight, and yet make you miss completely lots of times. Mayweather throws 500 in a single fight, in comparison. If he's not evading, he's punching.

 

Just an observation: a shot Sweet Pea arguably did better against a prime DLH than a prime Mayweather did against a past prime DLH.

That should tell you something.

 

This.

 

Whitaker quite easily but than again he is the best defensive fighter I've seen in the past 30 yrs so there is no shame in that.

 

Whitaker is better at getting out of the way, Floyd is better at blocking

 

Floyd is one of the best defensive fighters ever, Whitaker can be put at 1 or 2. Locche didn't display his defense against as good of comp as Pernell or pep.

 

Wonder how people here rate floyd in comparison to Benitez in defense.

 

Not better offensively, Floyd sits down on his punches, Whitaker didn't.

 

Fighting at a higher weight your not comfortable with and fighting with pillows on your hands? Those had nothing to do with it to make the fight a little harder for him?:think

 

No Sweat Pea didn't. That fight was close. I don't think Floyd vs Oscar was close. Plus Floyd wasn't at his natural weight class either. In response to the thread, Whitaker had better defense. You don't land **** on Sweat Pea. With Floyd you hit elbows and shoulders. Sweat Pea makes you miss 8-9 punch combos. I have Whitaker as the GOAT defensively. Floyd is in my top 5.

 

I would argue that Floyd's resume and Pernell's resume is about the same win you factor in winning compared to losing...

Pernell Whitaker's best wins:

Greg Haugen
Buddy Mcgirt
Azuma Nelson
Rafael Pineda

Floyd Mayweather's best wins:

Genaro Hernandez
Diego Corrales
Jose Luis Castillo
Zab Judah
Oscar De La Hoya
Ricky Hatton
Juan Manuel Marquez
Shane Mosely

I'm hard pressed to find any other wins worth mentioning whom Pernell actually defeated, he lost to Oscar, Felix and had a draw with JCC, these are the fighters who are and will be HOFers, everyone tries to **** on Floyd's resume but imo its equal to or slightly better than Whitaker's because Floyd did it against good opposition and never lost...

And yes Floyd's defense is better than Sweet-peas...anyone win I left out on Sweet-pea resume is because they aren't to me considered good wins and they were nobodies...
But feel free to add them...