By Michael R. Cumberbatch – If you did not get an opportunity to catch the Floyd Mayweather Jr. exclusive interview with Sky Sports’ Adam Smith you are probably in the minority amongst boxing fans. Mayweather, whose words are often dismissed by his legion of critics those include fight fans and writers alike for reasons well chronicled. It doesn’t mean that Moneys statements are void of truth.
Boring Fights Because of His Superior Defense
Mayweather can control and dictate the pace and the manner in which his fights play out because of his defensive prowess. This is a gift that few fighters have.. You look at a guy like Bernard Hopkins. When have you seen him get “Beat Up” in any fight? He finishes his fights looking nearly the way he entered. Hopkins like Mayweather controls fights with his defensive skills often making it very difficult and awkward for opponents to land clean solid punches. Defensive wizardry is not easily taught and more often than not a God given talent. Sure you have seen guys able to slip punches because of their quick reflexes only to see that lost with Father Time a la Roy Jones Jr., but what Mayweather possesses is much more than just quick reflexes.
On the other hand it’s amazing how much credit guys who are so called action fighters get because of their style. They are there to hit and get hit. They get credit for absorbing punches. Not only is it not smart to absorb a lot of punishment because we have seen what happens to many fighters once their careers are over. Mayweather wisely points out “those guys can’t enjoy the money they’ve made.”
To sum it up Mayweather is 100% right in saying his critics say his fights are boring but looking closely at the reasons they may feel that way it’s simply because he is that good and defensively he can do what very few can. If his critics were in his shoes and they could go into a fight use, their defensive skills come out barely unscathed and make millions? How many would sign up right now and do exactly what he does?
Trying to make a fighter to beat him
I think the media is as guilty of this as anyone. Fans are fans and they often are going to believe their guy can win and, ultimately, view things through rose-colored glasses. Looking back at the Mayweather vs. Hatton fight- in the weeks leading up to the fight, many scribes said Hatton’s aggressiveness and his Going Forward style would be enough to afford the Hitman a victory. I am not sure whether they actually believed this or if it was more like wishful thinking. It’s like what Prince Naseem said years ago “People watch me because they want to see me lose,” Mayweather is in the same boat as Naseem but numerically multiplied. To his credit, no one else in boxing can say that they carry such an antifan base. Yes, I said to his credit because those antifans buy PPV’S as well because they want to be witnesses to that first L. If Hatton was built up by the media I think some legitimately believe Pacquaio can win.
Pacs opponents cleverly cherrypicked?
Mayweather referred to Erik Morales as being already washed up when he met Pacquaio. You can certainly say Morales was on the decline, after 3 brutal fights with Barrera, he is absolutely right. Ricky Hatton had been already knocked out by Mayweather when he met Pac. We already knew Hatton was not a great fighter. Another point Money made was Pac vs. ODH at welterweight, a weight Money said Oscar had not fought at in nine years. It was more like seven years, eight and a half months but you get the point. Mackie Shilstone the conditioning guru accurately predicted that ODH would have more difficulty going down in weight than Pac moving up. Even though he might have less weight to lose, the man coming down is going to have the bigger problem,” Shilstone told ESPN.com from his New Orleans training center. “It’s easier building a guy up, even if he has a longer way to go, because regardless of what condition he’s in, the one losing weight runs the risk of losing the wrong kind of weight. Freddie Roach knew his man had the decided advantage. Manny weighed 135 lbs for Diaz, but he went into the ring weighing 146 lbs for that one,” Roach said. “Frankly, I think Oscar will be affected by having to make this weight for the first time in years. He got down to 150 for Forbes, but if Forbes could break up his face and rock him a couple of times, I know Pacquiao is much faster and hits a lot harder than Stevie Forbes does.” And lastly Miguel Cotto. Damaged goods coming in as Mayweather stated. You can debate that for the next ten years but what is a fact is that he always had a suspect chin before the Margarito fight. You can remember Cotto visibly hurt holding on for dear life against Chop Chop Corley, Ricardo Torres and resorting to questionable tactics when hurt by Zab Judah.
Mayweather often accused of cherry picking opponents believes Pacquiao and his team does the same thing by picking big names at a downtime in their career.
Perhaps the quote that stands out most was Mayweather saying that a Pacquiao fight would be easier than his fight with Marquez. Time will tell if we can add this to other facts he stated.
Questions or Comments. You can reach me at MRCBOXWITHME@msn.com