Floyd Mayweather Jr. Vs. Sugar Ray Robinson

Call me up when someone breaks Ty Cobb’s record of stealing home 54 times.

 

I only used him as an example to highlight how important it is for things like surface and footwear etc, in a race which is timed in milliseconds.

Bolt just changing his shoes would have impacted his time.

 

There are so many factors that impact sports performance that it is literally impossible to make sweeping claims about today being better than any period in history.

Likewise, there are so many measures of performance that it makes it impossible to make such comparison.

Why haven’t a bunch of superior modern boxers topped Archie Moore’s number of KOs? I mean, they supposedly have superior training and technique … surely at least a handful this decade should be able to at least amass 100 KOs, right?

Are today’s baseball players better than Cal Ripken? If they’re athletically superior, why do they need rest/maintenance days while he was able to start more than 2,600 consecutive games without needing a day off (much less being beaten out at his position)? Shouldn’t ‘modern training, nutrition and supplements’ create athletes who can stand up to the strain of playing day after day, season after season, without a break?

And what about Rickey Henderson’s records for career and single-season stolen bases, not to mention leadoff home runs. Shouldn’t today’s players have better base-stealing speed AND power?

How is it Wayne Gretsky still has more assists than any hockey player ever has points? Today’s guys have better skates, better sticks, better nutrition, better technique, right? What’s holding them back?

One to consider for boxing that is indisputable is that participation worldwide is down. I think it peaked in the 1970s or so. I guess the influx of former Soviet bloc nations booted it a bit but at the same time numbers were going down in most first-world countries for sure.

Guys fought multiple times a month, and often more times in a year than some modern guys do in 5-10 years. I believe that gave them edges in experience and toughness today’s guys cannot match.

 

1. There's no financial incentive for a boxer to get 100 kos unless they're a sideshow act today.
2. Ripkin, Grezkey, and Henderson were basically modern era athletes. Gretzkey benefitted from surgery in the middle of his career. None tested positive for steroids, but they existed in that era and had access to whatever was permissible.

 

This is a great point, really. Barney Ross single-handedly fought off 22 Japanese soldiers and saved a fellow Marine and was awarded the Silver Star. All pro boxers are animals, but guys like Ross were made of something totally different.

 

Oy vey

 

At different points in Mayweather's career, he has struggled with the fighters who can pair their jab and left hook; namely, DLH & Cotto. This is because the shoulder roll he uses is great at defending the right hand; but relies on the user's right hand to defend the opponents' left hand. And tbf, Floyd is great at this, but if he's getting marked up, showing too much respect and losing rounds to DLH and Cotto; Robi is a whole different kettle of fish. He's faster, hits a lot harder, and is smarter than both - and he uses a much better and more consistent body jab than they do.

Another weakness of the Shoulder Roll is it can leave openings for the right hook to the body - and when it doesn't, they still clobber the arm by throwing it. This is another of Robi's best shots, and would almost certainly start to wear on Floyd and create openings. Something else which isn't often talked about, is how long combinations are an issue for guys who rely on head movement. The longer the combo, the more likely you'll land. An example I'd use from Muay Thai is Varga vs Lerdsilla, and in a boxing sense, you can see it in fights like Ali vs Spinks I, Marciano vs Moore, and Leonard & Hearns vs Benitez.

On top of that, Floyd doesn't really have a physical advantage. He's slightly quicker but small enough for it to be mostly moot, no ability to threaten Robinson, no advantage in IQ or control, and can't rely on the Clinch.

It's just an absolute terrible match-up for Floyd, no amount of smarts or adjustments is winning it. Id be surprised if he saw the end in a 15 rounders.

 

If you had to give Floyd a strategy to beat the best version of Ray at WW, what would you have him do?

One thing that is often overlooked is just how good Floyd was at adapting mid-round to Uncle Roger's advice and implementing gameplay.

 

He was pretty much the perfect fighting machine against Jake