May this is true, but he doesn't really even need those reflexes for his offense. Floyd is able to analyze what his opponent is doing, and get such a deep understanding of how they are fighting... that he doesn't need to react to openings, he knows they're coming before they even happen. His timing is amazing. In my opinion he has the best feel for his opponents rhythm of ANY fighter in the history of the sport. He can stand right in front of you, and hit you with a right hand lead thats not even that fast, and you barely even have time to even BEGIN to put your hands up to block it because you just didn't expect it, and were occupied thinking about starting some offense, or some other maneuver in the ring. Thats what makes Floyd so amazing to me.
Now you're the type of guy that understands what I'm saying. He's always a few steps ahead of you mentally, and you dont even know it. You cant teach that.
No, its a perfect example. Corrales wasn't in that fight because he COULDN'T be. Mayweather wouldn't let him get off. He wouldn't even let him get set to throw. Corrales COULD have thrown more punches in that fight, but he'd either be a) Throwing them at air, or b) getting countered as he starts to throw the punch, and getting countered as he finishes throwing the punch. Mayweather completely had his number. He didn't know how to deal with someone with lateral movement, who wouldn't present a stationary target for him. And it didn't help that he was so obvious in his timing, when he was going to throw a punch, how he moved, etc etc.
Agreed. Everytime Corrales would walk forward, PBF would get off a full combo and all Corrales could do was try to cover up, and he'd be so late to react the combo, he'd only get off like 1 punch before PBF was outta there.
Anyone who's ever fought should be able to understand it. I can see how Floyd does it.. but I'm just not that quick to be able to do stuff like that myself. Floyd's brain is made for boxing. When I'm in the ring, and I see a guy throw a jab a certain way... I have to sit there and think "Ok he brings his jab arm back slow, and drops it a bit before bringing it back up", and then when he does throw the jab next... I'm not going to be able to counter it perfectly the first time he throws it again, or even the third or fourth. It takes me a little while looking at a fighter to do so. After I've seen it for a little while, I'll get to that st age in my thought process where I can THINK "okay throw the right hand over his jab when he brings his arm back in", but it still takes a few more jab before my brain makes the connection automatically.. and when he throws that lazy jab, I throw the right hand over the top. And even then its not definite. When Floyd sees that same flaw in an opponent, its like its automatically filed away in his brain, and the next time he does it, he just throws the right hand. I have to think about it, and take a little time before I can counter it right. Floyd just does it. His mental game is incredibly good. And not just for countering punches, but everything about his opponent. If you've never fought, I guess you would have no reason to think about what goes through a fighters head when he's fighting. But Floyd doesn't have to think, doesn't hesitate to do what he needs to do to exploit an opening - he just does it. He was raised on boxing, he's been thinking boxing from such an early age, that its like his brain is WIRED to be a boxer. Now.. thats just my opinion on the matter. But i'm pretty sure anyone who has ever been in the ring will agree with me, that thats what makes Floyd a special fighter.
Yeah. Its like he can catch every mistake you make from the first second of the fight and make you pay for each and every one. You cant teach someone to think that fast mentally. Thats why hes one of a kind, because no one beat you mentally like PBF did
You can actually increase your punching speed in a couple ways. One, you can sharpen your punches to be straighter from the shoulder to the elbow. Second, you can use your legs to generate some forward momentum while you are punching. It will mean less power but the punch will get there much faster than generating the power through the hips like you would normally. Alot of American boxers do both. Look at how RJJ fought, or Hopkins against Pavlik, or Mayweather against pretty much everyone. Footwork was a big part of it. The flipside is to get handspeed like James Toney you use your opponent's forward momentum against them. Simply by timing your opponent and throwing a counter at the right time can get there super fast. Alot of average Joes throw punches but don't step into them. They also throw them wide so it's very slow compared to a pro who knows what they are doing.
Good post. Toney is great at that. Hopkins does it well when he chooses too. PBF does it just like Toney.