FLOYD MAYWEATHER JNR might be, pound-for-pound, the best fighter in the world today, and probably considers himself the best fighter. But is he? Defensively I’d say he is the best fighter who ever lived. But his problem is that he wants to keep the zero on his record, so he doesn’t take any chances when he fights. He has fought numerous champions but many of them were past their best.
Probably the only time he came close to losing his unbeaten record was when he fought Jose Luis Castillo in their first fight back in 2002. A lot of people that night thought Castillo was going to get the nod. He beat Castillo easily in their rematch showing he can adapt and change to protect his ‘0’.
If Floyd takes a chance to step up the pace and gets rocked by his opponent like Mosley did in their fight, Floyd decided to box and win on points – against a fighter who was almost shot. Floyd should’ve taken Mosley out but he didn’t and stayed undefeated. He looks exciting when he steps up the pace but if he gets hit he pulls back and away.
I had the honour of sparring Floyd back in 1998 before he won his first world title. Nobody wanted to spar him but I was eager to volunteer. I knew he was quick and hard to hit so I touched his body with punches knowing he couldn’t move his body out of the way, and then I snuck a few punches over the top. But it was only a spar. His speed is unreal. He was here, then there, and could hit and move like no other fighter I’ve been in the ring with. Maybe if I’d been bigger and younger – like his upcoming opponent Saul Alvarez – I could have stuck closer. I’d bang the body, land shots over the top and try to outsmart him by predicting what he’s going to do and try to get there before he does. This could be the formula to beat Floyd but it hasn’t been tried and tested. He’s such a great fighter and can switch things up during fights. I could go in with plans A, B and C but Floyd has D-Z ready.
I think Floyd’s only weakness would be getting hit to the body. His chin has been tested and even though he gets hurt he always comes back. Castillo showed that he could hurt Floyd to the body but he adapted to that gameplan and got out of harm’s way. Canelo is a bigger stronger young man who likes to throw double and triple hard shots to his opponents body.
Taking on an unbeaten star or top ten contender and the odds are stacked against you. You can most likely only win by KO. I fought Morales and Hamed who were unbeaten prospects with Hamed being a massive superstar. However I took it in my stride. Neither fazed me with their shots even though they both hit hard, Morales more so for the entire fight. I took both of their KO streaks away from them. Canelo has nothing to lose. He’s the underdog and he should just enjoy the fight. He’s not supposed to win anyway but if he wins it’s gonna upset the Mayweather apple cart.
Floyd is a smart guy who won’t end up like a lot of fighters who’ve gone on too long like Roy Jones Jnr or James Toney to name a couple. He already has his promotional company up and running and he’ll probably just slide to the other side of the sport. When he see his reflexes are starting to go he should realise it’s time to hang them up.
FOR ALL THE PRE-FIGHT BUILD UP, EXTENSIVE PREVIEW – AND NEW TRIAL LIVE HUB WITH INSIGHT, RINGSIDE UPDATES AND POST-FIGHT REACTION FROM LAS VEGAS – DOWNLOAD NEXT WEEK’S BOXING NEWS ON TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 10
Canelo is the underdog and should just enjoy the fight
