I don't know what "appear" to be aggressive means. Are you referring to Saturday night? Because I don't think Floyd "appeared" to be aggressive. I think he was. I don't think Mosley was dead on his feet either. Like I'm sure you have, I've been watching Shane for years and save for the Margarito fight, he always looks like he's near gassing early. Against Oscar the first (rounds 2-6) and second time. Cotto, etc etc. But he's always gathered himself and finished strong. The difference this time was the opponent in front of him. Honestly, I had no idea until today that Shane wasn't a live opponent. Go figure.
think about mosley as you will. but he was dead in the water from the 3rd onwards. do you believe mayweather would be as open and aggressive against pacman? and if not, why not?
Oh I definitely think Mosley was a live opponent. He looked dead in the water against Winky Wright too. With that same discouraged face and Parkinson's hand movement. Maybe he was just outclassed? As far as Mayweather being as aggressive as Pacman, I think he will mix it up. You almost have to come forward against lefties but I think Floyd will play off what Pacquiao does. I'm pretty sure he can make Pacquiao look just like he did against Marquez the second time ("he's a much more improved fighter than the first fight! You're going to see a different Pacquiao this time!" yada yada...same fight) just by countering and working the stick. And do it far better.
Personally, and I am as far from being a Floyd fan as possible, I think Floyd's aggressive, in-your-face style was a direct result of being embarrased in the 2nd round. Hell, I'm not an expert but I did watch the fight. Floyd's own corner told him between rounds 2 and 3 to "box this mother fucker", which was clearly their plan. Floyd ignored them and bolted from his stool and went right at Shane in the 3rd round. He never looked back. You can try to spin it in retrospect as Floyd taking advantage of Shane's age. But I completely disagree. This was 100% Floyd responding to looking bad in round 2. Personally I became a fan of Floyd because you actually got to see him grit his teeth and hammer through adversity. It pains me to say it, but he's the complete package. He proved he has a warrior's resolve to go along with his unmatched physical skill. As much as I loathe his pre-fight, ego-manic persona, I can't deny the way he's broken two high-caliber, Hall of Fame warriors in his last 2 fights. I've never seen anyone take the fight out of the tough-as-nails Marquez and Mosley. Floyd turned them into mush.
Here's the Thing, Joe Namath... This is a PATTERN of Floyd Mayweather's.... He's Been VISIBLY Hurt Against Corley AND Sugar Shane...Corley was Floyd's Very 1st Fight @ 140 & he BADLY Hurt him EARLY...Floyd RESPONDED by Engaging MORE than he had Before in the Fight & Looked to Put Some HURT on Corley (as MUCH as HE Could Muster, Anyways)... Same Thing w/the Sugar Shane Fight... NOBODY Expected Shane to LEGTIMATELY Push Floyd to the BRINK of Being Dropped, yet he Did...& Even FEWER Would've Predicted that the Customarily SAFETY 1st Floyd would've IMMEDIATELY Looked to Get Back his Pound of Flesh.... Rounds 2-3 R IMPORTANT Because they 1nce Again REVEAL a RARELY SEEN Quality in Floyd...His TOUGHNESS...The FIGHTER in Him, as Opposed to the BOXER...Based on his STYLE, Most Expected Floyd to STAY AWAY from Shane for @ least the Remainder of Round 2 & MOST of Round 3...But Floyd DIDN'T... The Moment Floyd ELECTED to Aggressively TAKE the Fight from Shane is what's IMPRESSIVE about the Fight...During Shane's 1 & only HIGH of the Night, Floyd IMMEDIATELY & DEFIANTLY Snatched his Juice BACK.... REED:hammert:
exactly. he'll potshot and counter and not take a chance, no way, no how and its because manny will actually provide an offensive. anyway all this is irrelevant cos the fight is a pipe dream.
He'll potshot and counter because he can. Wtf? What's your point? Isn't the onus on Manny to make him do something different?
It doesn't TAKE thinking like that. In a fight you're barely THINKING at all. You're reacting to what's in front of you. And a 28 year old Shane would be something different for Floyd to react to than a 38 y/o Shane and he most likely would have needed a different strategy. He'd have had less room to be aggressive since he'd have had to deal with more speed, timing and activity from his opponent. If you actually read his freakin' posts in this thread instead of being so quick to defend every inch of Floyd's turf like an intellectual Spartan on Angel dust these are not difficult points to grasp. (Though admittedly BWJ brings much of this on himself by making 50% of his posts a snipe at Sly :bangh: (which usually means sniping Floyd)).
my point is simply that he was aggressive only against mosley because he had nothing to worry about in return. and lets be honest, if he was that 'aggressive' he would have knocked mosley out or stopped him. im sure pacman would have. floyd will always be a safety first guy. therefore people being impressed by his 'aggression' against mosley, need to calm down a little.
Good post REED. Even when we are on the opposite sides of a discussion, I can count on you to present a reasonable viewpoint worth considering.
Hut...not for nothing but...are you forreal? This is the argument? Using that kind of logic, what in the world makes you think a 28yr old Floyd would've been there for Shane to hit clean at all??
Agree with this. Floyd is allot tougher than he's previously been given credit for. I only noticed it recently rewatching the Castillo fight and seeing how much composure and focus he showed in turning that fight around after the middle rounds. He deals with adversity extremely well and this fight confirms it - there's no dog or fragility to exploit in Floyd.
You think Pac would've survived those two right hands too? And second, so after getting nearly dropped twice in the previous round, you think Floyd walks out to start the third thinking, "I've got nothing to worry about in return." Well...what does that tell you? Let that soak in first. Whatever that means. I don't follow the logic...we shouldn't be impressed by his willingness to stand and trade after being hurt because he's a safety first guy. Lord have mercy.
Well then that's the point, Hut. No way of knowing what the scenario would've been. But people are weird like that, I guess.
What was different about Floyd's strategy in the second and third? How about a 28 year old Floyd? wtf
Oh I understand quite fine. I think people on here get rattled because they debate the same predictable five guys daily who agree/don't agree. His point...had no point.
Nothing, that's the point - he wouldn't & couldn't have stuck with that strategy for longer than it took to regain Shane's respect had Shane been more of a threat. Look mate, this discussion is making my head hurt a little. Floyd has excellent toughness and his reaction to getting hurt whether Shane were 28 or 38 would be the same. Full credit; his instincts under pressure are immaculate. But against a guy who's speed, timing, work rate/stamina etc were still what they were 10 years ago, staying with that strategy for the rest of the fight would have been much more dangerous. Shane would have presented enough of a threat to discourage Floyd from being so aggressive as the next couple of rounds rolled by and the fight would have settled back to different equilibrium. Floyd would still have shown his toughness and smarts to get Shane's respect and bring the fight back to a balance in the 2nd if he needed to....the rest of the fight would have played out a little differently.
Hard to say, assuming Floyd was 28 as well. Agree to disagree. All we know for a fact is what happened on Saturday night.
Agreed. I realized that when he was getting his ass kicked by Castillo for the last half of their first bout and - after an alarming 10th round - Roger told him to get inside and trade. And the two fought in a phone booth for the 11th.