“Pretty
Boy” emerging star sstarboxing
star
Patrick
Hodgson
Reflexes have vanished and boxers such as Roy Jones, Oscar De La Hoya, Felix
Trinidad and Bernard Hopkins are shells of what they were in the late ’90s.
Let’s face it, boxing is in desperate need of a new star to emerge.
A star who has the skills to win and the ability to draw crowds and make
revenue for the magnates such as Don King.
Boxing, look no further. You have a star in the Light Welterweight Division’s
Floyd “Pretty Boy” Mayweather.
At only 28 years old, the phenoem has plenty of experience. In the 1996 Olympics,
he won his first fight in Atlanta July 22, 1996 by stopping Bakhtiyar Tileganov
of Kazakhstan at 0:57 of the 2nd round. In his second fight just five days
later, Mayweather won a 16-3 decision against Artur Gevorgyan of Armenia. In
the quarter-finals he won a 16-3 decision against Lorenzo Aragon of Cuba, becoming
the first U.S. boxer to defeat a Cuban in 20 years. This led to the semi-finals
in which he lost a very controversial 10-9 decision against Serafim Todorov
of Bulgaria, which the U.S. team protested.
Mayweather unquestionably has the talent, with 35 professional victories and
no defeats to be boxing’s pound-for-pound best fighter. He has exceptional
boxing skills, speed and movement.
In addition, his sporadic ability to have punching power in both hands makes “Pretty
Boy” that much more distinguished as a fighter. In fact, 68 percent
of his victories have been due to knockouts and his average bout time has been
less than seven rounds.
As far as charisma goes, Mayweather comes second to none. I’m not saying
he has the charisma of the likes of Muhammad Ali, but boy can this guy talk.
He says his peers call him “Pretty Boy” because every time he comes
out of a fight he is never bruised.
In his last two fights, the young lion appeared unequivocally perfect. In his
last fight the superior defense and blazing speed was too much for Sharmba
Mitchell, who was a pretty serviceable fighter. Mayweather knocked Mitchell
out in the sixth round with a straight right hand to the ribs. In the fight
before the one with Mitchell, several experts thought Mayweather’s opponent
Arturo Gotti would be an ar duous task for him; however, the fight proved to
be nothing more than a demolition that resulted in a knockout and left Gotti
in tremendous pain.
Now it’s time for the king of the ring to get some competition if boxing
can find him some. He certainly has options for his next big fight or should
I say his next big slaying. Mayweather could fight welterweight champion Zab
Judah or former champions and household names Shane Mosley and Oscar De La
Hoya. If Mayweather wants a good fight, the logical choice would be to fight
Judah, who has a parallel style to him. If he wants to go after the big bucks
than De La Hoya is his man. At the end of the day, whichever super fight he
gets next, order the fight on pay-per-view and see why
“
Pretty Boy” is the top man in the sport. Trust me, it will beat ordering
a disappointing fight such as Jones vs. Tarver III or any of the Hopkins vs.
Taylor fights.
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