There are many people on this forum that I respect based on their boxing knowledge, but when certain questions

Question

are posted about certain fighters like, Ray Leonard or Mayweather and some of their great victories, it seems that their great BOXING ABILITY-NOT RUNNING ABILITY FALLS ON UNAPPRECIATIVE EYES!

I have never seen either fighter turn their backs to any opponent and RUN!.......................................

I have seen both use the full load of gifts that the creator gave them this includes great legs to able move out of the way of punches and pressure, reset and then fire off combinations and score points- which sometime lead to victories by decision!..................................

It is called the sport of boxing not fightng for a reason!

your thoughts!

Answer 1

Thumbs up for BlogBaba and AceMan

People have their favorites.

People want to see exciting fights. What I dislike the most is that boxers like Mayweather say that he will knock his opponent's head off, and at the end they end up winning by points, not giving an exciting fight. They hype is great, and you have greater expectations, so the fight seems even more boring. I rather see a fight between two fighters that go at it like Barrera and Morales, than two who show great skill in the sport of boxing, like Mayweather.

Answer 2

Thumbs up to Blogbaba I agree with everything he said.  I will add that SRL was one of the greatest and his fights were always exciting. But to me Floyd Mayweather just dont do it for me. Nothing personal or racial but he does do too much pitty pat then run fighting. Sure he is the best out there and would beat just about any fighter within ten pounds of him but his style to me is boring. I like Blogbaba, was a brawler and that mentality never goes away. My trainer would tell me I was the hardest puncher he had ever seen..... but also the dumbest. lol. Thats why I always lean towards the Hearns or Holyfields of boxing. Fighters that loved toe to toe action. I have noticed by watching some old Mayweather fights he brawled much more earlier in his career and now that he is on top he doesn't exchange more. Hatton was smaller so Floyd was brimming with confidence Oscar De La Hoya was bigger and Floyd would rather tip toe than brawl. In short I know styles make fights bla bla bla but I prefer a brawl, blood and guts, the kind of fights and fighters that made this sport the sweet science.

Answer 3

Very well said. People do need to appriciate the skills that these fighters possess. I like leanard's and mayweathers boxing abilities, but what i dont like is that fighters like mayweather are not willing to box the best. Mayweather Jr. is one of my favorite boxers and i would like to see him fight top ranked fighters.

Answer 4

People pay a lot of money to watch these guys hit each other,  not dance around.

Answer 5

No one has suggested that SRL or Floyd have ever turned their backs and RUN from an opponent.  However, in the Mayweather-Baldomir fight, Manny Stewart did say that "Mayweather fights better going backwards than most fighters do going forward."

That was NOT a compliment.

Floyd is an excellent boxer, but he is too risk averse to be consistently exciting.  He will box his way into range and then just backpeddle away from his opponent.

SRL was trailing Hearns in their first fight, but he wanted to win and got aggressive.  He scored a knockout.  I don't think Floyd would have put himself at that much risk to win.

Answer 6

Guru- I see we are on the same wave length here. As fighters/boxers we all had to accentuate our strengths. When i fought I was more of a fighter than a boxer, although I always wished I was taller with more speed! I envied the SRL type. He could punch and box. So could Ali pre-layoff. In the first Duran vs Leonard fight I felt SR made the mistake of fighting to Duran's strengths. The second time he was wiser.

As far as Mayweather he can box well. I don't think he can bang or trade if he has to. Or at least it remains to be seen. My only beef with Floyd is I think if he wants to be a "all time great" he needs to be busier and fight guys when they are at the top of their game, as SRL did when he fought Hearns, Duran, Benitez, Kalule, and even Hagler wasn't past his prime. Mayweather should be taking on more top guys while they are at the top of their game, not fighting a older Oscar again.

Great question and you have my respect!

Answer 7

Some like boxers, other like sluggers. You can not expect everyone to like boxers.

Answer 8

Point well taken, you are right.  Sometimes personal preference gets in the way of objective thinking, and I stand corrected, I have been guilty of exactly what you are describing.  

Well stated sir.  I should appreciate the skill of Ray Leonard and Floyd Mayweather more than I do.  Still you have to admit Hagler  & Hearns put on quite a show for the three quick rounds they fought.  I realize the difference between "boxing" and "fighting", and I was always a fighter first, then a boxer, so my personality sometimes unjustly leans away from the Willie Pep's of the sport and I simply relate better to the Roberto Duran type fighters.

We all have our favorites.