What are Floyd weaknesses as a fighter?

It's generally accepted that Floyd is considered the most technically complete fighter in the game today, so I ask my FightBeat brethren the following:

What are the weaknesses, if any, that you see in his game? Who do you feel has the best chance at exposing them and what would your gameplan be if you were training said fighter to tackle Mayweather?

 

FLOYDS

My English is fucking awful today

 

Floyds weakness?

Manny Pacquiao

 

At welterweight, his chin is a bit of a question mark. Also, if he faces a situation where he has to be the aggressor (meaning he faces either a tall, quick guy who stays behind the jab) or a speed disadvantage against a puncher (Pac?), he might be in trouble. The one to exploit any of these needs to be a damn good fighter of course.

Furthermore, Floyd is a cunt

 

He has no obvious weaknesses. He's about as good as it gets in this sport.

Of course his haters (muzse for example) will try to dream up some flimsy nonsense but the truth is he pretty much has no weaknesses.

 

Why, because Mosley stunned him? The same Mosley stopped steel chinned Margarito. Floyd was hit with the type of punch and at the moment that would have stunned virtually anyone. Evander Holyfield was hit by a similar punch at a similar moment by Bert Cooper and he was in a hell of a lot more trouble. It wasn't an ordinary punch connect...it was an overhand right landed on an opponent that was already in an off balanced position. If anything it proves the strength of Floyd's chin in that he didn't go down.

 

He has hand problems. That's why he gets them injected before his fights.

 

I don't think Floyd has any glaring weaknesses in his fight style and technique. There is no "perfect" fighter, but whatever weaknesses Floyd has technique-wise are too small to make a major impact.

His weaknesses as a fighter in general - well, he does start slow. Shane caught him cold early on. He takes time to adapt to anything out of the ordinary in terms of speed or awkwardness. Look at the Judah fight - he was outright getting beat for 3-4 rounds and looked ordinary. It's ironic, actually, that one of Floyd's biggest strengths, his adaptability and his talent in finding and exploiting weaknesses in other fighters, could be a weakness against a fast starter since it takes Floyd time to figure things out.

Manny could catch Floyd early and hurt him.

The other thing would be that Floyd's style and attitude lend themselves toward potentially getting outworked by someone who won't go away and keeps competitive pressure on. Floyd gets by with what he is given. He has never really had to change his approach and take more risks because he was behind or losing a fight. So drawing from the first Castillo fight, a good workrate and pressure could put Floyd on the defensive enough to win a decision.

Finally, Floyd has never had his "Get up you motherfucker! Get up!" moment where as a fighter you get the trial by fire, and you either pass or fail. Manny, for example, has had many fights that have tested his heart, everyone knows there is no "give" in him. But Floyd? Do we really know what a bloodied, tired, or hurt Floyd would do in the last 4 rounds of a fight he is at risk of losing? Does he step it up and like a true champ come out to WIN with fury, or does he fold? I would consider that a potential weakness, although it is something of an unknown.

I don't think you are going to find any "he drops his right hand when he throws a jab" type stuff that makes him open to a specific punch or maneuver. He is too talented and too seasoned to dissect with a few formulated boxing mechanics.

 

bad hands, inactive, a lot of miles on the odometer, declining reflexes. questionable/untested chin above lightweight.

 

The thing that kills every athlete in every sport "Father Time"! Dude is unbeatable and undefeated 100% of the time. I'll Holla 5000

 

I would say being too inactive during the last few years.

It's hard to see what weaknesses he has boxing wise.

How he deals with an operator like pac.

 

Right now? his age, inactivity, the hands

In his prime? obviously, not many weaknesses, and it's true that no matter who you are, there is some guy or two throughout the history of the game that probably would have had your number but I'd say the type of fighter he would be most vulnerable to or be in the greatest risk of losing against is someone who who can put a lot of pressure on him, a strong, technically sound pressure fighter... A Duran, Chavez, Azumah Nelson, Ortiz, that mold... Mayweather is one of the great ones, particularly in the 130-140 range... he fits in there with anybody, great, great fighter...

 

If You were to MOLD a Guy to Exploit Floyd's Weaknesses, it'd Probably B Pacquiao...

Pacquiao Could PRESSURE & CROWD Floyd as Castillo Did...Pacquiao Has the HANDSPEED & SOUTHPAW Stance to Trouble Floyd, as Zab Judah Did Early...Pacquiao has the POWER to Visibly HURT Floyd, as Zab & Sugar Shane Did...

But by the Same Token, Pacquiao is a SUCKER for a Left Jab & a LEAD Righ Hand, Both of Which Floyd Throws BETTER than Anyone in Boxing...Floyd Mayweather & Manny Pacquiao were BORN to Fight Each Other...



REED:mj:

 

Splendidly accurate and insightful post.

 

:dancingBaby:

 

Great post fella, this is exactly how I see it

 

It depends on how you want to see it. You could also say that Mosley landed tens of clean, hard shots at Margarito while one clean punch from him made Floyd rock and roll. And since Mosley is the only welterweight puncher Floyd has fought and the fact that Floyd has been hurt before, I don't think it's a stretch to say his chin is 'questionable' which doesn't equal to bad or even medicore

 

This.

Pac & PBF are each others stylistic nightmare.

As far as PBF's weaknesses. He is such a complete fighter. I could say he lacks explosive power, a willingness to prove he's the best, and maybe in a funny sense, self-belief, but that's not really weakness in the context of this thread I guess.

Like others have said, maybe chin & hands, but you can't really exploit his bad hands in a fight unless you think you can win by getting repeatedly hit, & his chin, although not great, is not terrible.

The guy is an amazing talent.
That's why as a boxing fan, I can find him so dissapointing at times.

 

Fair enough.

I guess what I'm saying is...it was an unsual punch that he got hit with the type of punch that would mess up anyone's legs, regardless of strength of chin.

Lennox Lewis had a decent chin. He took punches from guys like Tua, Tyson, Morrison, Vitali....but one punch from a mediocre puncher called McCall dropped him hard and had his legs wobbly when he got up. Why? It was an unusual impact. McCall hit him with a straight right while Lennox was throwing his own overhand right.

 

i don't think floyd throws enough punches during his fights. also he doesn't throw enough combinations. not sure if that is a weakness, but it's something he should be better at if he is as good as he claims to be.

 

Nah, McCall was a good puncher. And a super strong chin.

 

I think Floyd was badly exposed by a shot inactive Oscar. When Oscar threw his jab, Floyd had no answers. Oscar gave the fight away. In his prime, Oscar at his very best and pumping his jab would've been doom for Floyd.
I also think Floyd is mentally weak. There's a reason why he's avoided so many good fighters and handpicked the right opposition at the right time. He doesn't believe in himself the way his fans believe in him. I won't call him a coward. I'll call him a smart businessman. Take the right fights at the right time, take few risks and make as much money as you possibly can while you can.

 

Mayweather took DLH's jab away by using his own starting from round 9 on, imo

 

I don't think it is fair to call McCall a mediocre puncher. His punch was great but his delivery left something to be desired. He was kind of a quagmire as a boxer---no doubt because of his drug issues, but the guy had a really good punch.

Maskaev took forever to get knocked out by Tua, which essentially ruined his chin. McCall sorted him out in half a round. The KO punch didn't look like it had much on it, but McCall fucked him bigtime with it. He was not a mediocre puncher; he was a mediocre boxer and a headcase with great power.

 

Yeah he doesn't have any glaring weaknesses. I do think he too often sticks to throwing one punch at a time. So far it hasn't really hurt him but it certainly could against the right opponents.

 

Good post! :Thumbs:

 

One weakness is his fear of getting hit. With the exception of ODH and Castillo, fighters haven't had a lot of success exploiting this weakness, but both ODH and Castillo scored mightily through the use of feints, and shut down PBF's offense to a large extent by putting him in a shell.

If PBF can't time his opponent and know what's coming when, and his opponent has the power to hurt him, he'll go into a shell. Pacquiao would take full advantage of this weakness and win a decision, which is probably why PBF won't fight him.

 

Every fighter has weaknesses. There is no such thing as a complete fighter. For you to continually harp on this about Floyd continually shows how little you know about the game.

When you say things like this I'm more and more convinced you've never spent serious time in a gym or around the game. These type of comments are based more in fandom than any deeper knowledge of the game.

There is not and has not been a "complete fighter."

All have weaknesses. Period.

Put it this way...who looked more unbeatable/lack of weakness at their best...Mike Tyson, george Foreman or Floyd?

The correct answer for the free thinking rest of the world would be Tyson or Foreman.

 

He doesn't seem physically strong for a welter.
He isn't tall or otherwise big for a welter.
He doesn't punch hard for a welter.
Inactivity.

 

Oscar's weakness was his lack of stamina...in some fights he tended to fade.