Floyd Mayweather vs. Saul Alvarez: boxing is what happens while you make other game plans II

By Ivan Ivanov - 08/29/2013 - Comments

AlvarezWorkout4Mayweather_Hoganphotos2(Photo credit: Tom Hogan – Hoganphotos/Golden Boy Promotions) By Ivan Ivanov: The first part of the article made comparisons of the stance, the footwork, body and head movement and the guard of the two candidates for “The One”. There are other important basics as well but I’ll focus on the punching techniques of he rivals. I suggested there is a principal difference in the way Floyd Mayweather and Saul Alvarez throw their punches.

In a nut shell, Floyd throws scoring shots with caution on his mind while “El Canelo” throws punches that travel a little further through the target and he spends more effort and energy with each shot. Floyd retracts the hand as soon as it lands while Alvarez “pushes” a little longer.

Mayweather punches from his wide stance and he does not put a lot of weight behind his shots, basically he uses arm punches. He maintains balance and mobility and does not rely on one punch power. It is not clear whether he “punches his weight” at 152 lbs. The effect of his shots is maximized because of sharp timing, precise range and he ability to “intercept” the opponent’s direction of movement. I have not seen him load up with a big shot. Even the “check hook” is a defensive shot, he throws it against opponents who rush forward, he pivots and spears them matador style. Two examples of that shot were the knock down punch vs. Juan Manuel Marquez and the KO of Ricky Hatton. In both cases opponents were going towards Mayweather, Hatton was almost running forward when he got hit. Hatton wasn’t picky; at this stage he would have taken any shot as his defenses were thrown to the wind. It’s Floyd who was choosy; he would only throw safety-first punches with minimum risk. The impact of these shots comes from the momentum of the pivot but also from the opponent’s forward movement.

Alvarez has more variety in his punch power. He can throw scoring and disruptive shots but he cares more about power punches. He is not a concussive “sledgehammer” hitter but he hits hard enough for his weight. He commits with punches and spends more energy than Floyd. This is the reason he appears to fight in spurts or for one minute of a round. No matter how athletic you are (he is average), you can’t be fast and powerful every minute of every round over 12 rounds. Big shots consume a lot of energy especially when you miss. Even though Mayweather does not use so much effort in punching, he does not appear to fight more actively or for longer intervals. Boxing happens at intervals.

Their defenses are of a different type but are very reliable for both. The difference between them is in the intangible qualities like timing, reflex, hand-to-eye response, peripheral space awareness. There are widely accepted functionality levels like sharp, declining, washed up, flushed, shot, etc. I respect both fighters so I am not going to classify them like that. I’d like to point out that Floyd’s style is dependent on physical and intangible qualities associated with youth. Boxing is young man’s game where size matters.

This is the reason I’ll jump of the bandwagon and take a chance by predicting a win for “El Canelo”



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