Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Boxing Record: 50-0 (27 KOs)

There are many things that define fighters, each in vastly different ways. Yet once every few generations a fighter will identify himself as unique among other thoroughly gifted athletes, many of whom will never quite touch their full potential. It is very rare that an elite athlete not only touches that potential but seems to master it and take it to levels beyond even his own capability. Floyd Mayweather Jr., love him or hate him, is one of those athletes.

The first aspect of Mayweather’s abilities has to be acknowledged duly. The man is educated in pugilism and educated well. It’s not just about coming from a boxing family in that his father and both of his uncles fought, two of them on the global stage. It is really more centered on the style that his father named to Sherdog.com writer and professional boxing trainer Luis Monda as the “Crab.”

Many people have tried to emulate Mayweather’s stance: lead arm down and tucked tight to the body, rear hand approximately thumb-distance from the cheek, feet slightly wider than the shoulders, with the knees bent in a half-crouch. Mayweather does not begin in this position to look cool or even necessarily to taunt the opponent. He is using a style of fighting, a style much, much older than it is given credit for. Continue reading ...