Mayweather: What about the Frustration Factor?

By Boxing News - 03/30/2015 - Comments

floyd5By Mark Vane: When it comes to fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr., no matter who the opponent has been, from Zab Judah, Oscar De La Hoya, Miguel Cotto, Victor Ortiz, Ricky Hatton, Shane Mosley, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero, Juan Manuel Marquez and the list goes on, there has been no Mayweather opponent where Floyd’s expert defensive reflexes and pinpoint offensive marksmanship has not frustrated an opposing fighter.

In other words, the opposition gets tired of getting hit and not hitting at some point in the fight.

In every fight, the initial fight strategy of the Mayweather opposition gets abandoned a quarter way through the fight due to ineffectiveness and then, the frustration sets in.

The reaction is typically the same, of all Mayweather opponents, ineffective aggression. This usually manifest itself in one of three ways. Aggressive smothering, aggressive ineffective volume punching on the ropes or just ineffective coming forward.

While smothering and aggressive ineffective volume punching may spark the cheers of Mayweather detractors, it has not made favorable impressions with the ringside judges’ scorecards.

Ineffective aggression makes Mayweather look less effective, but it does not mean the other guy is being anymore effective.

Smothering Mayweather and unloading ineffective volume punches have only been effective at making Mayweather look like he has been in trouble, but it has never put him in trouble.

And ineffective coming forward is just another term for Mayweather pot-shot target practice.

While we have not seen Floyd face Manny Pacquiao’s style of fighting, we have seen him fight a wide variety of fighting styles. Many different styles when you look at them side by side, but they all end in the same outcome.

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Oscar, Canelo, Hatton, Zab, Ortiz, Shane, Diego, Marquez, Guerro, Marcos Maidana and the list goes on of comparatively different types of fighters. Physical fighters. Counter punchers. Sluggers. Boxers. Counter punchers. Skilled boxers. Skilled punchers. All different fighters, with different fighting styles, fighting in the biggest fight of their lives and we’ve watched them all get in the ring and get frustrated with their ineffectiveness and Floyd’s effectiveness.

With all of Manny’s talents, skills and fan friendly fighting style, he can not win this fight, Mayweather can only lose it.

If Mayweather controls the distance with his jab and movement. The point scoring “check” left hook and the lead rights will be there all night long for Floyd.

If Mayweather takes steps backwards, allows Manny to press the fight, if he sits in the shoulder roll to long or too often, then Manny has chances. Manny’s ability to utilize his footwork to punch at different angles while Floyd is stationary will create problems for Mayweather, even in the shoulder roll.

But Manny’s success will not be a result of his own doing, but a result of what Floyd is not doing.

Manny’s deficits in height, size, reach, strength and boxing skill is to much to overcome, much like Marquez’s challenges in his fight with Floyd. Marquez is a great fighter, but the physical disparities alone where to much to overcome.

Manny is a pressure volume fighter but from a distance. Manny has to fight from a distance that Floyd would have to let him walk into by not utilizing his jab to the head or body. Only then can Pac-Man set up to do the work he is accustomed to doing against opponents.

If Floyd is charitable with his jab and active with his movement,
Pacquiao will enter frustration mode.

Frustration will make Manny extremely dangerous to himself by becoming completely exposed with wild aggression, but he will also be dangerous to Floyd as he starts to lunge forward swinging for the fences with power in both hands.

But if this happens, I do not see the odds favoring Manny. I see them favoring a historical theme.



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