How to Beat Floyd Mayweather (Floyd's style analyzed)

We've all heard it before.
Use the jab, apply more pressure, get on the inside, more speed, pressure, jab
him to the shoulder, make it a dirty fight, rough him up, hit him to the body
pressure pressure pressure...



Ever since Castillo's supposed victory against Floyd the blueprint had basically
revolved around pressuring him around the ring. "Boxing" doesnt work because
hes simply too good (or so they say). Either you have to have so much of a
weight advantage that you can break through Floyd's arms, or so much of a
speed advantage that you can beat him to the punch. Of course, (unless he
fights middleweights) these are implausible scenarios.



Is it impossible? Does he actually have an invincible style?


In order to figure out a "blueprint" , i believe, we must first examine HOW Floyd operates the way hes does and WHY it is so effective.




WHAT MAKES HIM GOOD


1. Floyd keeps you where he wants you, in relation to the angle of his body. He aligns his front foot with his opponent's, and blades his body , so that all of the opponent's weapons are kept on the 'outside' (the left side) of his left shoulder.


From this position, Floyd is virtually invincible. Points 2 and 3 are the reasons
why...


2. He is the best single shot ('pot shot') thrower in the game. If you stand in range, he'll land his jab. If you let him land his jabs, he'll feint you and land a lead right. If you tighten up, he'll jab you to the body. Soon enough, he'll feint you to the body and throw a lead left hook. Floyd's ability to consistently land hard, single shots is unmatched in boxing.


3. If you try to attack him over his left shoulder, he'll counter you to death. These are the moves that Floyd is famous for: pull counters, shoulder roll into straight right hand, shoulder roll into right uppercut... you've all seen it before. The reason he is able to effectively counter from this position is that all of the opponent's attacks come from the 'outside' angle. It is the angle that makes the shoulder roll and additional slipping so much easier. Although Floyd is insanely fast, he does not rely his speed alone.


4. When the opponent does get on the 'inside' (their bodies squaring off to each other's), Floyd has a handful of defensive maneuvers. He can:
a) quickly turn his body and start rolling
b) followed by a duck by bending at the waist
c) followed by a smother / clinch
d) or use lateral movement to jump out the way after the duck (did it alot against Guerrero)
e) or simply cover up using a high guard (this is the worst position Floyd could be in and we seldom see it).
Even if the opponent gets a chance to attack, Floyd offers little.



Notice what is missing in number 4.
Counters.
Floyd cannot counter when he is squaring off with his opponent.
Although he is incredibly good at not getting hit, when the opposing fighter does invade the 'inside zone', he is unable to effectively dish out a counter.

Intuitively, the gameplan many of Floyd's opponents have revolved around sustaining the Number 4 situation for the whole duration of the fight. "Even if im not landing clean hits, if i can keep up the aggression while keeping him on the defensive, i would eventually win those rounds." Right?



WHY THEY LOSE

Wrong. They have failed to take into account point number 2. All the while they are trying to "sustain aggression", they are getting clipped on the face the whole fu#king time. By the fourth round the damage begins to show. Cuts appear, eyes puff up. This motherfuker is landing jabs and right hands at will, and all your flurries are getting smothered or rolled. Frustration begins to set in. You launch impatient attacks over his left shoulder then BOOM he counters you. And it hurts. You find yourself backing up with hands high and Floyd's starting to club you with right hand swings. Before you know it the fight is over.


If so, how in the world can these fighters possibly win?


1. Defense. Elusive, sophisticated defense.

Offense offense offense have been the focus to the blueprint. But you MUST focus on defense, before you can even contemplate throwing a punch.

Let's look back at the fist Castillo fight, the fight that Floyd allegedly lost. People tend to focus on Castillo's pressuring abilities and work on the inside as the keys to victory, but honestly, i think Cotto landed more cleanly than Castillo in certain spots. Here is the difference:
Mayweather does not have an easy time landing his jabs on Castillo's face.

Notice Castillo's head movement, particularly at the early stages of the fight. He lets Floyd miss his jab, THEN cuts to the 'inside zone'. Sure, Castillo isnt landing any flush shots on the insdie, but guess what, he didnt take punishment. Not nearly as bad as these other fighters.

And there lies the first and foremost key to the blueprint. Neutralizing Floyd's pot shots. Hence, defense must be the priority.
Of course, dodging the attacks of this era's most gifted sharp shooter is easier said than done.

2. Ability to get into the 'inside zone.'

Alot of fighters possess this skill. All of Floyd's opponents did manage to 'get on the inside' at one point or the other. But when they started missing...

3. Patience.

... they got frustrated and launched combinations prematurely from the outside, where Floyd loves to counter. Combinations must be saved for the opportunity where Floyd is square in front of you. Attempting to throw a right hand over his left shoulder is just inviting a counterpunch.

(When Mosley landed those right hand bombs in round two, notice the position of their feet, and their bodies. Although his right hand was flying over Floyd's shoulder, Mosley's body had already crossed into the 'zone', allowing him to land shots that Floyd mistakenly thought he could roll. Floyd did not make the same mistake again for the rest of the fight.)

5. Maul him when he covers up.

Like i said before, this is the worst defensive position Floyd could be in (hence why he does not do it often). The fighter must create these situations by getting on the inside often and effectively, and being fast to enough to change angles in order to cut off Floyd's escape route. Mayweather's only viable response will be put his hands up and guard. When this happens, smash the **** of out him: this is your golden opportunity. Watch the Spadafora sparring match and see what kind of toll this takes on Floyd's game (albeit this is just a sparring match, but still).

4. Jab to the body. (this one's a bonus)
Why the fuk not? It's one of the safest punches (if thrown correctly) to shoot from the outside. Give Floyd a dose of his own medicine.



To sum it all up,
a) have an elusive enough defense to slip / effectively defend Floyd's single shot attacks
b) make him miss - this is crucial
c) time your offense ie. cut in after making him miss.
d) be fast enough to cut of his escape routes.
e) unleash when he covers up.
d) DO NOT throw combinations from the outside. Rather, jab to the body.


Floyd said this of himself, he finds out what his opponents do best, and he takes it away from them. The man who can do the same to Floyd will be the man who beats him.


Who can accomplish this ...? Well, this is getting long, i might save that for another post.


Well, there you ****ing have it. Now that ive written it down, it feels like ive just stated the obvious lol.
Im by no means an expert, though i am an avid fan and do boxing in real life too (2nd corporate fight in a month, wish me luck ima need it).:bbb


That was only my take, feel free to disagree / add things that i may have missed out.

Cheersdealdeal

 

wow i wrote that **** but that is fuking long. bump

 

wow i wrote that **** but that is fuking long.