Blueprint on how to beat Mayweather

By Robert Brown: In this article I will be going through what I believe are the detailed keys to having the best chance of beating Floyd Mayweather.

Most people believe that a sustained body attack is the best method of breaking down Floyd Mayweather, combined with constant pressure as demonstrated most notably by Jose Luis Castillo in their first fight, to a certain extent this is true, however the pressure must be controlled, you must not continually come in straight lines or else Mayweather will block the body shots with his forearms and counter over the top usually with a straight right hand, the pressure you must apply must be controlled aggression and you must come in using a variety of different angles.

Most people believe Mayweather manipulates opponents into fighting his pace, however I have a slightly differing opinion, I believe Mayweather judges the opponents pace and rhythm over the first few rounds then adapts to it and begins to successfully counter punch the opponent.

To combat Mayweathers rhythm the opponent must constantly change their rhythm so it is more difficult for Mayweather to get into rhythm and successfully counter punch, and then Mayweather is forced to lead which he is not used to doing.

Some rounds you must come in with an aggressive attack other rounds you must box and move because Mayweather is a rhythm fighter more than anything else, another thing I get constantly frustrated about is that fighters facing Mayweather do not jab consistently enough, mainly I believe because they are afraid of getting counter punched over the top with a straight right hand, however a huge key to beating Mayweather is the jab as clearly proven by Oscar de la hoya, he was winning the fight by consistently jabbing Mayweather and snapping his head back until he gave up the jab in the later rounds which was a mystery to many of us.

But in order for this method to be successful you must mix this jab up with plenty of hooks and rights and left hands to the body and the head mixed in with plenty of feinting so Mayweather cannot adapt to your rhythm and to your pace, because it is all about keeping Mayweather out of rhythm.

When fighters go in for an inside body attack Mayweather regularly uses and elbow to block them off and fighters on the majority of occasions never complain, and I never understand why because unless I came down in the last shower, using elbows in that fashion is illegal and if anything, complaining to the referee may throw Mayweather out of is natural rhythm even further which would be the main goal of this exercise.

The reason I stated earlier you must mix the jab up with a lot of feints is if you start to throw a jab and he goes to roll his shoulders back it would be much easier to throw body shots because Mayweather will not have time to block them.

Again breaking down the keys to victory are, consistently jabbing and feinting, consistently changing your pace, changing you avenue of approach, complaining about the use of elbows and forearms. Employ these principles and execute them correctly and you will have a much better chance of defeating Floyd Mayweather.