Thomas Hearns Vs Floyd Mayweather

Cracky said:
I dont see PBF doing that. Anytime he's been faced with a power puncher, he fights the exact same way. He lays at the end of his range and looks to counter and move while counting on his superior athleticism and speed to keep him out of harms way. The problem is that Hearns has a huge range, his hand speed was rediculous, he was excellent at cutting the ring down. and (Forrest said it best) a good jab trumps speed.
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That strategy has always served PBF well in the past.

Cracky said:
I see this being a bad beating. It's irrelevent whether PBF has been beating before. He could be 75 and 0 and I would still say the same thing. Hearns has too many advantages in this bout.
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Its completely relevant what has happened in the past.

To me its just a dramatic statement from someone who dislikes PBF.
 
That style has served PBF well... but he has not faced a beast like Hearns either.

It doesn't matter whether I like PBF or not. DLH wouldnt last 3 rounds with Hearns. I don't dislike him. Shane Mosely wouldn't go 6. I don't dislike him. It's simple to me. PBF would naturally place himself at the end of Hearns range where Hearns power peaks.
 
Cracky said:
Yeah because Wilfredo Benitez was a horrible defensive fighter. SRL had no speed or defensive ability either. ..

Another flavor of the month boxing fan
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Benitez and Leanord are 1-1-1 against Hearns. The only fighter of the three to be stopped in those fights was Hearns.
 
Cracky said:
Yeah because Wilfredo Benitez was a horrible defensive fighter. SRL had no speed or defensive ability either. ..

Another flavor of the month boxing fan
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Benitez was a good defensive fighter, not as good as Floyd. Also his transition from defense to offense wasn't as fluent and effective as Mayweathers. He would work then he would evade, then work, etc (for the most part). Mayweather takes all shots that don't miss on his shoulder/arms and throws/lands punches at every opening there is in between. SRL had both speed AND defensive ability. His speed was consistent, his attention to detail(i.e. defensive caution) was not always there. This made his fights more exciting than Mayweather's and his domination despite throwing caution out the window at times made him a great....but it occasionally exposed him and allowed his guard to be breached. Anytime Floyd makes a slight mistake he moves/holds and immediately regroups and continues to use his athletic/technical advantages. Hearns can be frustrated and drawn out of his gameplan and play into his opponents', as has been seen in numerous fights. I haven't seen it once in Floyd's career other than little spurts, which are immediately rubbed out with hugs/movement.
 
Lets look at how Ray Leonard beat Hearns, he went from boxer to puncher. It was his speed and power that hurt Hearns. Two things that Ray has more of then Floyd speed and power. Floyd loses this. So what if Floyd is slightly better defensively then Ray? Hell get outboxed just the same except he wont get hit so bad that his cornea becomes detached.
 
Not just his defense, but the fluidity of his transition from offense to defense and vice versa continually at every strategic opportunity. I rank his ability to do this above Leonard's.
 
floyds style revolves around slipping/blocking punches and getting his own in between. He wont be able to do that against hearns fast strong punches combined with his reach and height.
 
Benitez was a good defensive fighter, not as good as Floyd.
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Benitez wasn't "as good" defensively as Floyd, he was much much better. If we're talking straight defense, because of this:

Mayweather takes all shots that don't miss on his shoulder/arms
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This = scored points in the eyes of the Judges. Radar when he didn't want to get hit, didn't even get touched and it was very tough to score a round against him when he was being very Willie Pep.

Your points about Hearns' vulnerabilities aren't bad ones, but saying Floyd would be one to decisively capitalize on them isn't exactly right. Aside from a complacent DLH, Floyd hasn't fought a full-sized Welter with the hand-speed, and punching power of Hearns. Hearns at his Prime tended to double and triple jab into his right-hand. With his height and reach he could do this from WELL beyond Floyd's counter-punching range (which he prefers to do alarmingly close to people at the bigger weights, he doesn't fight like he did against Corrales anymore), and Floyd's still fast of foot when he needs to be, but not for a full fight. Baldomir caught up to him, just lacked the punching mechanics to capitalize on it.

Unfortunately for Floyd he'll get some good pot-shots in, but that's about it. He's not a combination punching machine, he's not a come-forward brawler (the guys who KO'd Hearns not of exhaustion like Barkley and Hagler who were both also bigger), and he'd try to fight Tommy of the back-foot most of the fight, which at Welter plays into Tommy if you're the smaller man.
 
I'd definitely have Hearns stopping this one, like has been said in this thread it's really a mismatch.
 
i see a destruction of floyd in the late rounds. tommy could box and could negate floyds hand speed with his own handspeed and rediculous reach. not to mention tommy was one of the all time power punchers at ww maybe even the hardest puncher ever at ww. floyd couldnt hit and run and outpoint tommy over 12 .
 
All you guys already summed it up, Hearns had all the physical tools, plus good boxing skill to beat PBF. Could be competitive though as hard quick punchers have been put in there with Floyd- this is why I want Cotto/PBF or Mosley/PBF to happen.
 
King Kabuki said:
Benitez wasn't "as good" defensively as Floyd, he was much much better. If we're talking straight defense, because of this:
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That can be argued, but the fact that Floyd's is more transferrable into offense cannot. A fighter who can avoid punches while throwing those of his own and landing is more effective than a fighter who avoids trouble by throwing out the shake and bake along the ropes all round to avoid trouble.
 
Mind you, everybody, that I live in the metro detroit area and I love the hitman's fights and credit him with having some of the best p4p power ever.
 
If it's a 12 rounder, I see Hearns winning a decsion or a late stoppage. Not a real fair comparison IMO for Floyd. Almost like saying who would win at 135 PBF or Ricardo Lopez. Hearns frame was made for 160 and PBF should be a junior Welter.
 
Hearns at 147 doesn't lose to any lightweight ever, including Mayweather, Duran, and Armstrong.

Hearns was a very capable boxer, but not a great one.
 
This match-up is all wrong for Floyd.
 
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