"I taught Lil' Floyd a long time ago when he was a kid the style to where we stayed closed up and those big strong guys don't have anything to hit. When you closed up, man, them punches ain't gonna do nothing to you, and you can see it coming that way and it sets up your punches," stated world-class trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr., who reflected on his son's performance against against the previously undefeated Saul "Canelo" Alvarez. During a recent conversation with FightHype.com, Mayweather Sr. thoroughly broke down their game plan and explained exactly why Floyd Mayweather was able to make Alvarez's effort look like a sparring session. Check out what he had to say!
FLOYD MAYWEATHER SR:
"When Floyd was closed up against Canelo, once he opened up, he could hit him with anything; the uppercut, straight right hand, and hooks. It's simple, man, when you have learned it since you was a baby. When you are closed up and fight behind your shoulder, no matter how big or strong Canelo was, he just wasn't going to have a big enough target to hit. It makes you small. In their mind, they know they can hit you with a clean shot, but as soon as they fire, that shoulder gets up there and it frustrates these guys. You could see Canelo getting frustrated. As a matter of fact, Floyd's last couple opponents have been trying some dirty tactics because he's frustrated them so much."
"But the style that we use, you shrug most of the shots off and there is never a clear target. But you have to use your shoulder and be good at it. You come in with the arm across your stomach, so your protected there; you got your jaw blocked on the same side as your fist blocking your stomach, and your shoulder being up protects your backside jaw. Lil' Floyd is good at all phases of it. He caught everything Canelo tried to throw and that was the difference. No matter how big or strong you are supposed to be, if you can't land anything clean, you gonna be in for a long night and Canelo found that out."
"My son came in dominating the boxing game and he's going to go out just like that. I told the papers down here before the fight, I said, 'Look man, this ain't gonna be nothing but a workout. That's all it's going to be.' I knew Floyd was going to touch him up. I knew he wasn't going to hit Floyd and Floyd was going to hit him whenever he wanted to hit him and I knew it was going to be just like a gym workout. And I told them, it ain't nothing Canelo going to be able to do about it. All of those words are in the paper before the fight. I knew what it was going to be."
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]