The reason Floyd Mayweather remains unbeaten after 45 professional fights could be attributed to his Olympic-style of boxing where the main consideration is to win on points. Records show that Mayweather has been winning on points since his technical knockout (TKO) victory against Diego Corrales in 2001. From his debut as professional boxer in 1996, the unbeaten champ was winning most of his fights (17 out of 25) either on TKO or knockout (KO). After his KO win against Corrales in 2001, Mayweather has fought 20 times with only four legitimate TKOs to his credit. His win over Victor Ortiz in 2011 was recorded as KO but Ortiz’s defenses were down as he was looking and arguing with the referee when Mayweather delivered the killer punch. Keen boxing observers say that Mayweather has gradually shifted to Olympic-style of boxing right after his conquest of Corrales more than 10 years ago. Mayweather is a former Olympian and he must have shifted his winning strategy to the unwritten rule of “winning on points” and “hit but don’t get hit.” Mayweather’s Olympic-style of boxing resulted to an enviable record of 45 wins without a single loss in his professional career. Mayweather is a naturally skilled and thinking fighter. He knows that age is fast catching up on him and he had to devise a strategy to keep his immaculate record without the benefit of a KO or TKO. In his recent fights, Mayweather did not go for KO or TKO for a win. He would first study his opponent’s style in the early rounds, making sure that he does not get hit by keeping a calculated distance for safety. As the fight progresses, Mayweather would see to it that he gains a point or two to entice the judges to give him the round. In the later rounds, he would try to pile up points and disengage by dancing around his opponent. Usually the round ends with the credit going in his favor. This is a typical Olympic-style boxing where KOs and TKOs come as bonus in the scorecards of the judges. Mayweather would likely continue to dominate boxing with his carefully-thought strategies without necessarily winning his fights via KO or TKO. With his camp handpicking his next opponents, there is little doubt he will retire unbeaten for good. But the idea of retiring without facing the real challenge to his claim as the world’s greatest fighter, his legacy will remain hollow if not downright questionable. Still, there is a way out to this post retirement situation and that would be to conquer his reported fear of facing Filipino star Manny Pacquiao. Seemingly, only Pacquiao has the kind of speed and power necessary for a challenger to beat Mayweather. Read more. To keep his legacy as the world’s greatest fighter, he needs to face Pacquiao in the ring to validate his claim to greatness.
