Few similarities here now that I think about it. Both were the only foray into that division either had, excluding Whitaker's final fight where he broke his clavicle. Both picked up titles in the process as well. What was the better win? The better performance? Thoughts on both fights in general?
They both had absolutely no business fighting @ the weight and it showed. Idk, they both looked equally terrible in their bouts. Pea was bloated and sloppy, while Mayweather was lethargic and nervous out of his mind. Pea fought the better fighter by comparison though.
The more I think about it, Vasquez was kind of a sleeper. He has some good wins, but stylistically I think his style suits Whitaker a lot better. Whitaker ate up forward moving guys with his defense and footwork. Oscar was a bit more savvy with speed and movement. Both were good wins, depends who you want to credit more for overcoming their opponents style, but I think Mayweather had a tougher task in front of him than Whitaker did and it showed in the fights.
Better performance was undoubtedly Mayweather`s... Pea looked like ****. DLH was a better fighter than Vasquez but its difficult to say if this was the case with these particular versions so its hard to say which one was the better win for definite.... Id say Mayweather`s again probably, Oscar still had a fair bit left, was motivated & put in one last great fight but still lost.
An 1995 Vasquez would have beat the **** out of an 2007 DLH imo. Mayweather's pathetically low workrate in that fight made DLH look better than he was at that time. Given Mayweather's struggles with Ricky Hatton, I'm not sure he would have beat Vasquez, who was both bigger, stronger, better chinned AND a bit more skilled. Would have been tough. That said, Whitaker in 95 probably still would have struggled with an 07 DLH, given how soft he looked at 154.
Nah. Its a lot easier to fight a guy coming at you than chasing down and swinging at a guy you cant hit. say what? If Whitaker at 54 could do it, Floyd coming in at 150 would be way too fast. No way Vasquez was better skilled than Oscar.
Not when you have a propensity to gas it isn't. DLH would have been in deep, deep **** against Vasquez if that fight went beyond six rounds. Mayweather struggled with Hatton for the first 6 rounds and if he didn't have the ref in his back pocket, he would have struggled more so. Vasquez didn't have better skills, but Mayweather's propensity to fall back onto the ropes and try and finesse an opponent would be a pretty bad strategy against a good strong body puncher like Vasquez. This ain't no Carlos Baldomir we're talking about here.
Do you think Vasquez is better and stronger than say Trinidad or Vargas or Quartey? Hmm dont recall that, Ill have to watch it again. I dont think Vasquez would be quick enough to keep Floyd from keeping the fight in the center of the ring.
Heres some footage of his fight with Whitaker. Look how easily Whitaker keeps the fight in the center of the ring. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9QnoDS9xNw[/ame]
I think he is physically stronger than all three. Doesn't punch harder though. It wasn't life and death struggling, but Mayweather had some problems for sure. His speed is a bit underrated I feel. Sure he wasn't that quick, but was he slower than someone like Jose Luis Castillo? I don't think so.
Hatton is pretty quick with his hands and on his feet. His problem is his approach which is wide open. Both him and Castillo pressure harder than someone like Vasquez.
That's a little Whitaker propaganda package I put together. I left out the parts when Whitaker was struggling. IMO, had it not been for the point deductions, the Whitaker-Vasquez fight could have gone either way. But I should also mention, I think Whitaker's ability to keep the fight somewhat ring centre was more due to his ability to break up Vasquez's momentum with the jab, which is something Mayweather doesn't really utilise enough. Just for illustrative purposes, look at the DLH/Whitaker&Mayweather fights. Pea hardly touched the ropes in that fight, but with an older, slower DLH Mayweather spent quite a lot of time lined up against the ropes.
I dont know Mayweathers jab is pretty dam good as his lead lefthook and straight right, which are better rhythem breakers. I picked that clip because its the second half of the fight where a stronger pressure fighter should be able to get closer. Older slower Oscar is still smarter and faster than younger fresher Vasquez in my opinion. I dont care to watch anymore of Whitaker, he always put me to sleep.