CompuBox: The Brilliance of Floyd Mayweather Jr.

by Scott Christ on Sep 16, 2009 6:15 PM EDT in Boxing Fight Previews

Below is a compilation of fight stats from Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s last five bouts, covering his run at welterweight and one fight at junior middleweight against Oscar de la Hoya.

A few things to take out of these stats:

There's this perception among very casual fans and those that simply hate on Floyd that he's a jabber and runner. Neither are true. Mayweather's never worked a ton off his jab, preferring instead to fully utilize his insane speed and reflexes, power punching on counter opportunities.
If you're not yet familiar with Floyd (hey, new fans come in all the time, believe it or not): He doesn't lead the action. It's exceedingly rare. Maybe if he smells blood like he did with Ricky Hatton after the check hook-into-ringpost knockdown, but he almost never throws more punches in a round than his opponent. He's also almost never outlanded in any round. As you can see, Floyd has a 2-to-1 advantage in connects per round in his last five fights.
Who was the best opponent on that list? Oscar, for sure, as Oscar was up at his weight (154), and Mayweather was clearly uncomfortable with those few extra pounds (Floyd weighed in at 150 for the fight). He dominated Baldomir and Mitchell, and while he had some early trouble with Judah and Hatton, he wound up taking both of them to school as the fight wore on.
That last point? It's a big one. Guys have to work so incredibly hard to get to Mayweather and hit him that their conditioning is tested on a whole new level against Floyd, whose own conditioning and dedication to staying in absolute peak condition is second-to-none.
Marquez is no doubt in for the toughest night of his career, at least in terms of being able to hit his opponent. Floyd's defensive genius comes through in the numbers, and if you're still not a believer, I don't know what to tell you. Keep in mind his offense is 80% (or so) created by his defense. In the now-immortal words of the idiotic Matt Millen, who watched the great Tate Forcier pick apart the Notre Dame defense during crunch time last Saturday, "Watch...the creating."

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yawn...

he’s so brilliant he’s fighting a small lightweight at welterweight, I hope Marquez flattens him

by toodiesel on Sep 16, 2009 7:35 PM EDT reply actions

consider toodiesel a money may hater. while i dont’ care for him fanwise (just like JMM) i recognize the man is an absolute defensive genius in every conceivable way. JMM will be hitting arms and shoulder all fight long until mayweather finally takes him out

The Dude Abides

by battle axe of doom on Sep 16, 2009 7:37 PM EDT reply actions

...

Mayweather’s such a defensive genius that he’s been able to avoid every punch Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, and Antonio Margarito have tried to land. And I don’t hate Mayweather, I strongly dislike this fight, but love Marquez for taking it.

by toodiesel on Sep 16, 2009 7:43 PM EDT up reply actions

There’s no getting around the fact that Mayweather is an exceptional defensive fighter. Yes, Cotto or Mosley (I don’t consider Margarito and his plaster fists relevant anymore) may test that more than other fighters, but he’s fought good fighters and made them miss over and over and over again.

Bad Left Hook
"Well Howie, I think I'm going to stay outside and outjab him." -- Tex Cobb telling Howard Cosell how he would approach Larry Holmes

by Scott Christ on Sep 16, 2009 8:15 PM EDT up reply actions

Mosley

People seem to always confuse Floyd’s motivations with being scared. The man is not scared of anyone, he just wants to make money. There is no money in fighting Mosley (beating the master of plaster disaster sans plaster doesn’t count for squat in my book). There might be money in fighting Cotto after Pacquiao especially if the fight is close. Hell as long as we are dreaming up fights that would be exciting but would have no money lets see PWill vs FMM, that would be interesting.

by Waldo Rastel on Sep 16, 2009 9:45 PM EDT up reply actions

pw won’t get past pavlik pal ;)

The Dude Abides

by battle axe of doom on Sep 16, 2009 9:56 PM EDT up reply actions

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I think the notion that he just wants money is incorrect. HBO refused to pay him for lesser names for this fight and Marquez was the bare minimum they would accept. Mayweather gets paid I’m guessing what he needs, and it’s against an opponent who he doesn’t feel poses much of a threat to his undefeated record. Who knows how much they would have paid for Mayweather/Mosley, but you’d have to imagine it would have been significantly more.

by toodiesel on Sep 17, 2009 12:14 AM EDT up reply actions

I kind of doubt it. HBO has intimate knowledge of the fact that Mosley is an iffy ratings draw both on TV and PPV. It likely would have been similar money for Mosley, and he’s way more of a threat than JMM.

Bad Left Hook
"Well Howie, I think I'm going to stay outside and outjab him." -- Tex Cobb telling Howard Cosell how he would approach Larry Holmes

by Scott Christ on Sep 17, 2009 12:29 AM EDT up reply actions