Send in an ATG to OUTBOX Floyd Mayweather

Yeah, but, (like Gannicus says above), tall welterweights is another matter. Because they have the natural strength and weight of a welter as well as freakish height.
Hernandez, I believe, was still a little under 6', maybe 5'11. There have been some good 147 pounders who were 6'1 and 6'2 and had 77 or 78 inch reaches !

 

Interesting question. I could pick quite a few at 147 but that's probably a bit unfair considering where Mayweather came from, weight wise.

Looking below 147 i like Whitaker. Be a fascinating matchup. I believe Whitaker would outwork him. Hector Camacho would be interesting too. Mayweather would not have the punch or aggressiveness to overly disuade him. I am talking quite early Camacho.

Benitez at 140 would be in with a big show, especially considering he loves to sit back and counter. He'd be a great test.

Tho technically maybe not outboxing him but i'd back Duran and Pryor to both keep ahead of him on points.

Jose Napoles, Ortiz would be tough.

There's plenty of candidates.

 

He knocked out De Jesus twice.

If you are comparing Leonard to Mayweather.

Leonard was a natural welter with a 3 inch height and 8 inch wing span advantage on Duran. Leonard's durability held up all the way to light heavy.

Mayweather in his prime was within Duran's weight limit, only had an inch height advantage, and a 6 inch wing span advantage.

 

No offense to de Jesus but he isn't even in the same conversation as the rest of these guys. And who knows-- maybe de Jesus would have outboxed Duran a second or third time if the drugs hadn't derailed his career? :think

A 6-inch reach advantage seems pretty significant, no? Between that, Mayweather's speed advantages, and his defensive acumen, the prediction that Duran would likely have knocked Mayweather out doesn't really seem rooted in reality.

 

DeJesus could beat Pac and Marquez, and would be among one of May's best opponents.

Doesn't matter, Duran is finding his chin. I don't see Mayweather as durable as Leonard or Hagler.

 

Meh, Maidana earned a draw against Mayweather in the opinion of a fair number of people, and you only have to look at any two Floyd fanboy scorecards to make a case for a Maidana victory.

Maidana is a B+ fighter.

 

Meh, I only know of one reasonable, knowledgable boxing ****yst who had the fight a draw. Other than Rold, the consensus among non-biased viewers is that Mayweather won the fight.

BTW, Mayweather was 37 in that fight. I'd assumed that this thread was supposed to be about fighters taking him on closer to his prime.

 

I think it was 85-15 (press scores) in favour of a Mayweather win. But essentially, their scorecards as well as Floyd fanboy scorecards differed over which rounds they had given to Maidana, thus making a case for a Maidana victory.

In any case, you're definitely right. Mayweather at 37 years old as a welterweight is not prime, although not very much near 'past prime' either. Case in point, Canelo fight. This was one of Mayweather's sharpest performances athletically speaking.

In any case, Duran when he came to fight (was in good condition for the fight) was a monster and a stylistic nightmare for Mayweather.
Mayweather had problems with Castillo at 135lbs, Duran is a different animal, especially at 135lbs where he's arguably the very best and greatest ever, and where his power was scary. There's levels. Duran even said that he would have fought Mayweather in a very rough way. Therefore, Mayweather would be in hell on earth.

 

I agree that Duran (on the right night) would be a very difficult fight for Mayweather. My main beef is with the knee-jerk take that Duran would most likely knock Mayweather out. And as rough as Castillo and Maidana were for Mayweather physically, neither ever really hurt him with punches.

 

Not knee jerk, I thought about it.

 

Mayweather was more busted up in those fights than they were. Mayweather was literally saved by the bell vs Maidana in the second fight (but he proved vs Mosley that he could weather that storm when in that level of danger)...Mayweather did a better job though second time around.

It's definitely not greatly likely that Mayweather would get knocked out, although Duran's power at LW > both of theirs. But, Mayweather has one of the best chins I've ever seen and doesn't get enough recognition for it.
IF Duran is knocking Mayweather out, it's going to be a stoppage forced by a barrage of punches.

 

Well can't say the same about SMM he had Mayweather hurt. No one can say anything for sure, other than Duran at his best is in a completely different league than Castillo and Maidana.

Hell even Mayweather said he was the 2nd best p4p fighter of all time. Personally I think in a 15 round fight at lightweight Mayweather gets knocked out, but who knows for sure, maybe he can go the distance.

 

I think Mayweather either gets stopped, or gets knocked down at least a couple of times and loses an 10-2 decision.

 

Dejesus was a terrific fighter. Anyone who dismisses him out of hand doesnt know **** about him or boxing.

 

Mayweather fans will dismiss a master like DeJesus but try to argue Corrales as an all time great.