Yes, De La Hoya was beaten but not nearly as embarrassingly as most of Floyd's opponents. De La Hoya actually made him uncomfortable and Cotto drew blood with that strategy. Castillo did the same and actually convinced some people that he won. If the only three opponents who even halfway made Floyd work for it used the same strategy there's a fair chance that it's the only one that has a prayer of winning. Castillo was a long time ago but Floyd is the same fighter, albeit much more polished, that he was back then.
And you're absolutely insane if you actually think that it would be a wise idea to fight Floyd in the center of the ring and try to "counter his counters". There isn't a fighter fast enough or skilled enough to jab with Floyd and then time his pull counter and if any of his last few opponents try that we might get to see Floyd get a stoppage again. This is what Pacquiao would have tried to do and it's exactly why that fight never interested me at all.
And no, Bradley does not have an elite jab. He was outjabbing a 40 year-old man who's been in a ton of wars. That doesn't say shit about his jab, really.
1. De La Hoya was much, much bigger and still actually an elite fighter. That's why he had success. A Prime De La Hoya would of had more success because he would of been able to compete with Floyd in the middle of the ring. Not only that, but it was Floyd's first time at the weight and he was visibly slower and uncomfortable due to the pillow gloves. Not that it even matters, because again, De La Hoya was clearly beaten using your strategy.
2. Floyd isn't the same fighter who fought Castillo, open your eyes. He's more defensively responsible, and much less likely to get involved in phonebooth fights anymore. When was the last time you saw Mayweather regularly throw close range combinations like he did in that fight? The closest example is Cotto, and that was just him using the shoulder roll off the ropes. Not to mention Floyd was injured in that fight.
3. Actually, quite a few posters who's opinion I respect a lot on here see it the same way. You won't beat Floyd trying to pin him down and 'punch his arms'. The punch his arms genuinely makes me laugh, you're actually serious with that? You think punching Floyd's arms will have any effect at all? Any effect other than creating clear counter punching holes for him to exploit?
Guerrero and Canelo tried to execute the strategy I'm talking about. They had both done their homework, and they both knew it's the only way to challenge Floyd. Guerrero's was missing some of his counters by inches. A faster fight could of hurt Floyd with those shots, just like Mosley did. In the CENTER of the ring.
It's not about a 'pull counter' you need to stop watching so many highlights. Floyd uses the pull counter sparingly. The shots you can get him on are the left hooks he throws that are shoulder level, leaving the side of his head exposed. He throws that hook from low down, which is an opportunity that could be exploited, and an opportunity that was exploited by Mosley, who nearly dropped him with a counter right hand over it.
He also telegraphs the right hand quite a bit, but he gets away with it because he is so fast and so versatile defensively. Guerrero nailed him a few times early on in the right by countering the lead right hand with hard body shots and follow up head shots that scraped by. He wasn't fast enough to land those shots, but it was by far his best chance of landing a significant shot.