It should also be noted that Mayweather has notoriously brittle hands and often injures them during the course of a fight. Fighting three additional rounds would increase the likelihood that he'd damage them, possibly to the extent that he's unable to deliver punches effectively or defend himself, and render him vulnerable against a charging opponent. Then again, over the past few years, Mayweather has only been facing aging or b-level opponents that are unable to test him in the way I described. For instance, Mayweather would have had his hands full against a prime Mosley in a 15 round fight, but against the faded version that he faced, not so much.
Most definitely. I 100% agree w/ what you're saying here.
Just as a recent example, if his fight w/ Cotto were 15 rounds, he would've without a doubt stopped him if there had been three rounds left.
He had Cotto fading and hurt him BAD in the 12th round. No way Cotto could've survived another nine minutes.
Same thing w/ the Mosley fight. Naazim Richardson was very close to stopping that fight on a few occasions, or at least he voiced that to Shane. I could definitely seen him doing that, have the fight been 15 rounds and with the combination of Mosley taking punishmen/ fading/Mayweather coming on stronger.
Very good question. I'd have to say yes he would. Mayweather is one of the few boxers, today, who would be able to hand with the 15 round boys. On sheer conditioning alone, he would out-last many of the guys he has faced in the last five years. If you look back at his record, I could see guys like Miguel Cotto and Shane Mosley fading before reaching the final bell in a 15 round fight.
Floyd could hang with the 15 rounders. Most of these guys couldn't.
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I'll tell you one thing. Look at all of Oscar de la Hoya's fights. He was NOT a 15 round fighter.
No. Floyd is a very practical man and fighter. If he could get the win eventually at the end of the fight, why force a knockout and risk being knocked out himself? I think it is just that he does not have the killer instinct or the inclination to savagely beat his opponent. I think like Pernell Whitaker, his best KO wins were shall we say incidental and not really intentional. The other guy gets hit by one clean shot and the legs just cave in. Floyd I think is a fighter who prepares to go the full route every time regardless of the opponent..It's unexciting but as I say, Floyd strikes me as a very practical fighter who will take the win whatever it is.
In this aspect, I think Floyd pales in comparison with other slick fighters as Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and Willie Pep.
1) if the 1st castillo fight was a 15 rounder, the judges coulve given the fight to castillo...
2) imagine how a washed up cotto could re-arrange floyd's face inside 15 rounds
3) w/o that sucker punch, ortiz could've been successful trapping him to the ropes...
At the end of a fight, there is very little indication that he was even in a fight other than sweat. He doesn't seem to get tired at all and actually looks better in the later rounds because he has figured his opponent out, broken him down physically and mentally, landing clean accurate punches while his opponent fades.
