Jesus mentioned Burley and I can see some similarities there. Burley was more quick to engage, and I love watching him work on tape. He's a joy to watch when I have time to do film study.
Ali is the only guy I can think of who used the pull counter as effectively as Floyd does.
Whitaker used his reflexes and upper body flexibility and head movement to avoid punches like Floyd has shown he's been able to do.
Adrien Broner tries to fashion himself after Mayweather in the way he postures in the ring and does the little jerky anticipatory movements that Floyd has shown, but the similarities end right there as far as that goes.
Nobody fights like Floyd Mayweather. I've seen guys try to fight the same way and they end up getting their asses kicked. Floyd is unique in the way he brings everything together, and transitions so smoothly from offense to defense, and in the way he sets up his punches with his defense.
Nobody fights like Floyd, because nobody CAN fight like Floyd.
He might be imitated, but nobody does it like he does it.
A lot of people will say Broner, b/c Floyd was his idol growing up and he tried to imitate him throughout his life.
In reality, I think Argenis Mendez, who holds a belt at 130lb, fights the most like Floyd.\
He's got the pure boxing skills, an extremely similar style (shoulder roll, philly shell type defense), he fights off the ropes well and is an underrated/very capable inside fighter.
Watch any of his fights and you'll see the similarities.
edit: Joan Guzman also used to fight a lot like Mayweather JR, b/c he was trained by Floyd Sr. He wasn't as defensively sound though, but still fought very much like Floyd.
Floyd Mayweather fights like George Benton and James Toney and a little like Bernard Hopkins and Nicolino Locche
More recent fighters who fought similar to Floyd: Argenis Mendez, Emmanuel Agustus, Adrien Broner, Javier Fortuna although hes very wild at times
There are a lot of really good defensive fighters who dont fight like Floyd
Floyd Mayweather fights with the philly shell defense and he uses the shoulder roll.
Greats who used this same technique include;
Charley Burley
Jersey Joe Walcott
James Toney
The best i have seen use it was Charley Burley. He was about Floyds size but he could shoulder roll light heavyweights, this is because he didn't absorb punches with his arms and body as often as Floyd, he typically picked punches away with his shoulder roll.
Defensively, there's Adrien Broner who is vainly trying to copy his Philly shell and body armor defense.
Offensively, there are a lot of Floyd fight-alike fighters who rely on economical moves and punching accuracy.
Floyd's offensive style is nothing out of the ordinary. It's his defense that's extra ordinary.
