Floyd Mayweather Jr’s next opponent is someone solid. Really?

By Boxing News - 12/08/2013 - Comments

floyd786By Juan dela Cruz: Last night at Shelton, Washington, Floyd Mayweather Jr said his next opponent will be a solid guy. We’ll, I must admit that all of Floyd’s opponents were solid guys. No doubt about that. But the big question is, were they in solid form when Floyd faced them? To answer this, let us look back at Floyd’s opponents, let start with Oscar dela Hoya.

Floyd faced Oscar dela Hoya in 2007. Definitely, Oscar is a solid guy having been to wars with top tier opposition during his heyday in boxing. Unfortunately, Oscar was past his prime when he faced Floyd. As how he put it, Oscar was already shot during their fight. So that makes Oscar not a solid guy when Floyd fought him.

Next in line for Floyd then was Ricky Hatton. Ricky was undefeated and considered really a solid one. He was also then the Ring’s light welter champion. Regrettably, the fight was made at welterweight, clearly, not Hatton’s territory. As expected, Ricky was defeated by Floyd. Hatton was clearly not in the solid form of himself during that fight as he was made to climb up weight. Had the fight been at light welter, then we could have had a different story.

After Hatton, Mexico’s pride Juan Manuel “Dinamita” Marquez was next for Floyd. And we all knew, JMM was a really tough opponent. But just like Ricky Hatton, JMM has to climb weight. During that time, Marquez was a lightweight and he climbed two weight levels up just to face Floyd. And the result was a total shutout. JMM can’t move an inch thereby giving Floyd wins in all rounds. Was Marquez a solid guy then during the fight? Definitely not!

Sugar Shane Mosley was just like Oscar dela Hoya. No need to discuss about him. Yes he was solid, but when Floyd faced him, Shane was already past his prime.

Victor Ortiz was also a tough guy. Unfortunately, Ortiz was not a natural welter. He had only one fight at welter before facing Floyd, therefore, Victor is not a solid guy at welter where Floyd fought him.

Then there was Miguel Cotto. Cotto is really a tough guy being solid that he gave problems to all of his past opponents. Cotto’s prime was during his campaign at welterweight. Sad to say, Floyd faced him when he was already shot and at a weight not Cotto’s natural fighting weight. Definitely, Miguel is not a solid guy at junior middle weight.

Then came Robert Guerrero.Just like Ortiz, “The Ghost” is not a natural welterweight. He had only two fights at welter before he faced Floyd. Does that make him a solid guy? Definitely not!

Lastly, Saul Canelo Alvarez was put in line for Floyd. Much to our dismay, the fight was at a catchweight. I don’t have problems with catch weights as several fighters had been doing this. That’s to add the fact that catchweights are made for fighters of different weight levels to be able to face each other. Saul was considered solid of course, but not at 152 pounds! Saul was campaigning at 154 and up. He was very solid at that weight. But during fight night, Saul looked skinny with no power at all. He was weight drained which made him a very soft opponent for Floyd.

Floyd saying he will face a solid guy is just to hype up the fight. That’s normal in the business. What isn’t normal is that, Floyd had been campaigning at welter and yet, he has not faced a real welter yet.



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