OK who comes out on top in a round Robin tournament between these 4 former LW champions : Floyd Mayweather Manny Pacquiao Tony Canzoneri Barney Ross I honestly can't make my mind up right now so was hoping for some insight.
How do you see him beating Pac, Canz and Ross? What advantages does he capitalise on and what weaknesses does he exploit?
I agree with @TipNom that Floyd takes this. Mayweather beats any Pacquiao. That movement, combined with the sharp right hand and long jab to the body is ALWAYS going to beat Pacquiao. I've said before how I think Ross gives Floyd son ODLH-esque issues, but ultimately he doesn't have the speed go length to do that imo, he does have much better stamina though, and us always gonna be an issue. That said, I've always thought Ross was better at 140, and never came into his own properly at LW. Canzoneri is amazing, one of my favourites from that era. But I don't really see his style troubling Floyd. With Mayweather's reach and speed advantages, he's gonna make Tony lead and ultimately, Canzoneri isn't gonna do it well enough to beat Mayweather. So yeah, Mayweather is 3-0 against the others. Obviously Ross beat Canzoneri twice, so it becomes a match up of Pacquiao vs the two above. I don't think Ross has the style to beat Pac, he's a little too predictable and relies on his left hand more than he should vs Pacquiao. I see Ross as a less talented but better De La Hoya, his toughness and stamina make this a great fight, but one Pacquiao's quicker hands and lefty stance wins. Canzoneri loved aggressive guys who made mistakes. He'd stand in the pocket, relying on his positioning and chin go keep him safe, and counter them silly with Berg slaying right hands. I think he'd pick holes in Pacquiao's game. So I have Floyd at #1, going undefeated and Pac, Tony and Ross all tied afterwards, splitting records against one another.
I both agree and disagree with this post. I can see Canzoneri "Marquezing" Pacquiao. But I think Mayweather really struggles against a solid jab. I mean how many solid jabs has he faced in his career? ODLH and Cotto, that's it isn't it? A solid jab pounding in his face negates a lot of his work for me. The question I have is if Mayweather is quick enough to counter over the top of Ross's jab in particular. He definitely loses to prime Hoya in my mind, but Ross, I'm not sure of yet so will leave that on the back burner for now. Pacquiao, imo, beats Floyd prime for prime. I think there's a reason Floyd didn't face him and its because his attack is too unpredictable, when Floyd steps Pac will step with him and Floyd doesn't put his punches together as well as JMM does. So I don't think he'd ever be able to back Pac up. Mayweather vs Canz I honestly can't say. It's hard envisioning Floyd losing to a boxer, but Floyd rarely fought aside from a stacked deck and Canzoneri had that old time grit that is under rated now. That means tentatively I'm saying the following Floyd: beats Canz, loses to Ross, loses to Pac Pac: beats Floyd, loses to Canz, can't call against Ross Ross: beats Floyd, beats Canz, can't call against Pac Canz: beats Pac, loses to Floyd, loses to Ross It sickens me having Canz finish bottom of a round robin tbh. I feel confident with most of my pics, aside from Pac/Ross and Floyd/Canz.
I think Mayweather struggled when he wasn't the guy with the reach advantage, not with the jab specifically. Cotto, whilst not having the reach advantage, did have a height advantage. Basic geometry (I think? ) dictates that jabbing upwards shortens it, and decreases the effectiveness. De La Hoya's jab was longer, fast and bigger. Floyd wouldn't have these problems with anyone here imo. I love Pacquiao, he's my favourite here, and Floyd's my least favourite here too. However, I can't see for the life of me him losing to Pacquiao. If guys like Larios, Morales and Márquez can out-manoeuvre and potshot Pac, I fail to see Floyd failing to do so. Especially given how dominantly he won irl. Whilst I rank Floyd the lowest here P4P (feels weird saying that), I can't see him losing to these guys. Especially Pac and Tony, he's just too good and has style advantages.
I'm not sold on Ross vs Mayweather, I just feel Ross has a stylistic advantage. As for Pac, May didn't just struggle with a jab, he also struggled with educated pressure. Pac could pressure excellently from range by stepping in with his angles. Peak Pac was a phenom and there's a reason, imo, Floyd didn't face him.
