An ordinary house fly is an amazing and athletic insect. If you've ever tried to catch one, you know first hand that swinging at it in mid air—or trying to swat at it—can be an extremely frustrating task.
When approaching it, the passive fly seems to be calmly grooming itself, and it remains totally fearless of the oncoming danger.
The reason is because it senses you; it has its own built-in radar and will be whisked away on a blanket of air—created by your swing—long before your hand is able to hit the illusive pest.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. is quite possibly the greatest defensive boxing specialist in the history of the sport.
With Muhammad Ali and Pernell Whittaker being the possible exceptions, I can't think of anyone else who can duck, counter, shoulder roll, and pick off his opponent's shots with their gloves the way Pretty Boy does.
Much the same as the frustrating and illusive house fly, Mayweather also seems to sense his opponents are determined to get inside and, when they do, he dominates them with short hooks and lethal uppercuts.
It's a daunting task, but in order to beat this style of fighter, first you must penetrate his defense and then you have to hit him; and hitting Mayweather with a clean shot is akin to hitting a hummingbird on steroids, by comparison.
These defensive tactics frustrate his opponents into committing mistakes they ordinarily wouldn't make.
Then in the blink of an eye, he makes them pay for their errors. With lead right hands, he hit Arturo Gatti with three in rapid succession, breaking the tough Italian-Canadian brawler down mentally and physically.
Mayweather is one formidable boxer—a welterweight dynamo clearly deserving of much more respect than he is getting lately.
Before Manny Pacquiao gained the throne by knocking Ricky Hatton senseless in two rounds, it was many fans' opinions (including mine) that Juan Manual Marquez was at boxing's summit, and that he was possibly the true No. 1 among the world's pound-for-pound boxers.
When Mayweather came out of retirement, it wasn't due to anything Shane Mosley or Pacquiao had done. It was because Marquez called him out on national TV in front of a world wide audience.
And still, the Mayweather detractors—and there are many—seem to think that he is ducking and dodging fighters in his own 147-pound welterweight class.
Nothing can be further from the truth.
He is simply returning and facing the toughest fighter he can face. Without an interim tune up match, he is more determined than ever to get back what is rightfully his.
The fighters who have tried to defeat this classic boxer-puncher is long and storied and some great Boxing surnames adorn its pages—to infer that he is a cowardly fighter who alludes other pugilists is utterly ludicrous.
Manfredy, Gatti, Judah, De La Hoya, Hatton and the late Diego Corrales all found out the hard way that nobody thus far has been able to emerge triumphant over the great Mayweather.
So what about Marquez? Is he up to it?
On the 18 feet of battle field which is the squared circle, Marquez is a Sherman tank—he can take a direct hit, fall down, and keep on coming. His two previous wars with Manny Pacquiao demonstrate to us that trying to break his will and stamina can prove to be a frustrating endeavor.
Marquez knows he was cheated out of two wins against Pacquaio—by judges who smelled of that Vegas stink—and he isn't about to let it happen again.
Juan Man, as he is affectionately called, feels that he is owed something. And on July 18, look for him to try and collect it.
However, it is my opinion that Marquez will try to out-box Mayweather, like he did with Pacquiao. Even though Pretty Boy could someday be beaten by somebody, somehow, it will not be because he was out-boxed.
Nobody's going to out-box him, at least not anytime soon.
Source: bleacherreport.com
Sunday, June 21, 2009
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