By Matthias Predonzan: What is boxing and who is the boxer? I find a bit too fancy the definition of boxing as “the noble art”. This is an esthetically pleasant phrase but doesn’t define, really, the essence and purpose of boxing.
To me, boxing is a sport where the aim is to hit your opponent without getting hit from him.
Easy to say than to do it.
In order to achieve this goal, the boxer has to possess very many qualities, he doesn’t need to be just the best on something.
If, for instance, he will have just the best defense, this will not make him to win many matches. Having the best footwork but lacking other skills will, sooner or later, put this boxer in great difficulty when facing a fighter able to slow him down with restlessness pressure and great power.
And we all have seeing big punchers to find, sooner or later in their career, somebody able to out-punch them or to prevent them to use their power.
Because the problem in boxing, is that the guy in front of you is trying to do exactly the same thing you are trying to do, that is to use his best abilities in order to prevail over yours.
Floyd Mayweather Jr, greatest ability is to adapt to his oppositions’ style, nullifying their boxing skills.
Again, this is easy saying than doing.
Since there are many different styles of boxing, Floyd can do this because he is very good… in just everything.
– He has strategy; he decides the speed and timing of the fight, when to defend or when to attack his opposition. He dictates the pace of the match mastering defense skill, counter-pouching, footwork, head-control and clinching in order to control his contender’s attack and then hitting him with accuracy and great variety of punches. Everything he does in the ring is decided through a rational analysis of the boxing abilities of his contender
– He can adapt not only to his opponents but also to his own condition: when he broke his right hand against Carlos Baldomir, he used only his left hand for the rest of the match, pushed his defense and footwork to win. He did not panic, he changed strategy, adapting to the situation.
FMJ style is more close to martial arts than to classic boxing. He is in fact, very confident, very dedicated and when he fights, relaxed and very, very focused.
Looking at his career, it is amazing to notice that he took decisions that seemed illogical to everybody but were actually very wise.
When 23-years-old and already world champion, he took a match with no title-on-stake against Emanuel Augustus.
Why he did it? Because Augustus was the perfect tough guy to prepare him for future matches against fighters like Diego Corrales and Miguel Cotto.
Had FMJ fought Corrales or Cotto without the experience of the match against Augustus, he probably hadn’t defeated the two strong pressure-punchers the way he did.
Mayweather took Saul “Canelo” Alvarez when everybody had suggested not taking him, because he was too big and too dangerous of an opponent.
But he did it at the right time, just before Canelo could have built the necessary experience to be at his level. Because he knew that Canelo was the most dangerous opponent out there and a guy improving at every match. To wait would have being a mistake, because Floyd was 36 and not getting any better. In this way he made a 2 million pay-per-view match come true and took Canelo to school.
Mayweather is also a great athlete. His condition being always terrific, allowed him to be able to use his footwork against bigger opposition like Oscar De La Hoya, Cotto or Canelo.
Mayweather’s speed, quick reflexes and good chin, are his natural gifts and he worked hard to get the best from them.
Finally, he was able to do something that shows his amazing business’ skill.
If you looked at the match with Cotto, you saw Mayweather winning easily the first round jabbing and moving.
He could have done the same for the remaining 11 rounds but he decided to fight inside with Cotto.
The result was a closer toe-to-toe match that fans loved as never before. Fans, not technicians.
Technicians disagreed with Mayweather choice to take that risk with a bigger guy and puncher like Cotto but the point for Mayweather there was to impress the fans and gain a super rich contract of $200 million with Showtime.
He took back Floyd Sr. in his corner, probably feeling that at this final stage of his career, fighting with big and powerful opponents, he needs to concentrate even more in his defense.
He has another 4 or 5 fights left. We will have again the pleasure to see him a few times before he will retire from the sport.
This will be the real last, more difficult fight of his life: to be able to abandon the scene, hopefully invictus and never come back. Get out when you are the best, Floyd, will make you the greatest in boxing history.
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