What makes Mayweathers defense so much better than other boxers?

Question

What makes Mayweathers defense so much better than other boxers?

Answer 1

His offense mostly.  Also, his patience.  You never see him hurry or force things.

Answer 2

One point is that few fighters use the philly shell.  So finding sparring partners  is hard to do.  The philly shell can get a fighter seriously hurt unless he has very good reflexes and speed and balance to roll with punches.  So far, Floyd's physicals skills in those areas have been superb.  But the day he loses just a smidge of his speed, he's going to get clocked.  At 32, Floyd is due to slow down any day now.  If he starts his shoulder roll late, he's going to get blasted, or switch to a high guard or change his style to a classic moving boxer style like he did in round 9 against Hatton.

Answer 3

His speed and reflexes do play a pretty big role, but just as important is his experience which creates his unmatched comfort in the ring.  The guy has been in the ring reacting to punches since he was about 5...at this point there really isn't any punch or style he hasn't had to defend against 1000 times or so, and his confidence in his defensive is also tops in the game, this is a huge factor as well because he doesn't allow anyone to rattle him out of his comfort zone where he has been "unbeatable" to this point.

I think it is an injustice to just point to his outstanding quickness or reflexes - his defensive skills, like James Toney, have the potential to be extremely effective even after his natural physical tools begin to decline.

Answer 4

He uses the shoulder roll defense, sometimes called the "philly shell" which can be very effective if you use it correctly.  Ohter good examples of great fighters using this defense are Sugar Ray Robinson and James Toney.  In the cases of Mayweather, Robinson and Toney (in their primes), they used this defense to perfection because in doing so, you turn your body away from you opponent and bring your shoulder up to protect your chin, and when more punches start to come, you literally roll with the punches and slip the majority of them.  Mayweather, along with James Toney is one of the few who knows how to use it correctly the way Robinson did.  The reason they can do it while others can't is because they have the speed and good foot movement that is needed to go along with this type of defense- thats why you would never see someone like George Foreman use the shoulder roll.

Answer 5

he sees punches coming. when u watch is fights, he will lean and duck before the punch is thrown.

Answer 6

it wont work against the big show! even tho it is staged

Answer 7

his speedy reaction to the coming punches!

he move's quickly out of the way of punches then immidietly counter-punches which is best part of his defense!