Meldrick Taylor was lightning quick.....I think Mosley was faster at lightweight than Floyd was at 130.
Yes,you're right - in terms of explosive speed/combination punching,I'm not sure if anyone comes close to Mosley....Floyd has all around speed. Swaying,ducking,shoulder-rolling,feints,reflexes,footwork,combinations. Watching Mosley in his prime at lightweight was a sight to behold. Those combinations;the blinding speed was mesmorizing.
Meldrick Taylor at 140 Hector Camacho at 130 Shane Mosley at 135 Sugar Ray Leonard at 147 Roy Jones, Jr. at 160/168 No footage of SRR at 147 keeps him out of the list, but I'm sure he was amazing
I haven't seen it in many years, but SRR's final WW Title defense against Charley Fusari is on film. P4P, Ali virtually gets a free pass on this one.
You know, Taylor's a great choice and possibly right but i just didn't appreciate his speed at all. Machine gun repetition without any of the class and variation of SRL, Camacho, RJJ and co. Jones for example can snap out a punch or combo P4P just as fast as Taylor can yet leave his man prone where Taylor just didn't have that snap.
Shane Mosley in my opinion was much quicker at 147lbs, especially against Rivera, De La Hoya, Diaz, and Taylor. Ive seen a few of his fights at 135lbs, and he's slower. Very noticeably slower as well.
for some reason i would go for meldrick he threw 8 hit combo's easy like bread and buter not alot of power but ALOT of punches can go a long way.
Its a myth that he was quicker at lightweight. Because Mosley has been such a fast fighter throughout his career, combined with his most impressive dominance of any division being at lightweight, and it being the lightest weight he was champion, people get suckered in and fooled. Watch Mosley's fight with Holiday, and you'll see exactly what I mean. For some reason he's nowhere near at his peak quickness in that fight. Which is rather strange as this was the night he won the IBF title, and probably made the weight easier than he ever done during his reign. I'm not going on the Holiday fight alone, Ive watched his fights with Ceballos, Molina, Leija, Johnson, etc. He's quick, don't get me wrong, but just not as quick as his early welterweight days.
Personally i reckon he matched Taylor and Camacho at his best. He was recognised as the fastest in boxing for years. Camacho eased the title off him (supposed, and an aging Davis) then was supposedly surpassed by Taylor.
Howard Davis Jr. Bernard Taylor at 126 Greg Page Michael Dokes Mitch Green Hector Camacho at 130 Floyd Mayweather at 130 Zab Judah at 140 Meldrick Taylor at 140 Ray Leonard at 147 Vinny Pazienza at 135.
