This week’s fight of the week is a double header, a blowout first fight and a more competitive rematch that takes place just shy of 4 years later. In one corner we have a tough, wily boxer puncher and in the other we have an all time great pressure fighter par excellence.
Roger Mayweather to most readers will be most well known for being the trainer and uncle of the great Floyd Mayweather Jnr and also brother to Floyd Snr. Where both the Floyds were slicksters in the ring Roger was a more aggressive fighter with good skills and a mean streak.
Chavez was at the time of the first fight 46-0, a tidal wave of pressure, savviness and smarts. Not only was his punches smooth but so was his head movement and footwork which made him a versatile operator that could make very good opponents look unprepared.
As the first fight began Roger was strafing both single and double jabs, he seemed to be in a rush to land and it wasn’t long before he did just that. Chavez was patient early using his slick foot work to avoid most of the shots coming his way before finding a beat on Roger countering him when one of those jabs was pushed out.
Almost immediately Chavez began to expertly move towards Mayweather moving his head, dipping down and getting big reactions from Mayweather and the occasional hard attempted counter. If the strategy early was to jab, that was beginning to be forgotten. As the opening round wore on Chavez began to catch, slip, pull away or cross over the top of the jabs of Mayweather all the while pressuring him relentlessly. Early in the second round Mayweather seemed to stun Chavez with a clean right hand before turning off the ropes expertly. Chavez reset and began his pressuring again constantly looking to counter Mayweather’s sometimes pushed jabs with cross counters. This sequence continued apace with Mayweather again landing his right hand after turning sharply.
His success was short lived however as within seconds Chavez had stepped deep and landed a hard, short over hand right that had Mayweather stumbling before Chavez dropped him with a jumping right hand that saw him almost fall on top of Mayweather. Somehow the ref didn’t call it a knockdown and the fight continued but it was clear Mayweather was hurt. He tried to move laterally and keep away but was quickly dropped hard with a right hand when he was simultaneously throwing his own. Mayweather rose to his feet and again began attempting to evade his opponent but his legs were spent and it wasn’t long before he was dropped again and the fight was waved off. For the 2nd time in his career Mayweather had been stopped, each time it happened very early in the fight. 13 wins and 2 losses later Mayweather had his chance at redemption, Chavez had 15 fights in the interim, all wins with 9 by stoppage leaving his record at an astonishing 62-0 going into the rematch.
This fight would take place at light welterweight, two classes above the Super Featherweight limit of the first fight. As his nephew would do many years later Roger came in wearing the full Mexican regalia of sombrero and pancho to face his Mexican opponent. As the fight began Chavez looked to move towards Mayweather in his customary fashion, this time Roger was using the jab more sparingly and moving either back or laterally looking to play the boxer this time round. The opening round was a contrast of Mayweather’s slick boxing and Chavez’s disciplined pressure. Mayweather won the round as he seemed to dictate the tempo and landed the cleaner punches, the obvious question though how long could Mayweather box off the back foot before tiring or being drawn into a fight?
The second round started out much the same with more good boxing by Maywaether, he was moving constantly, jabbing, sidestepping and looked to clinch and turn Chavez when they came together. All of a sudden! moments after Mayweather threw a hard counter which missed, Chavez shook Mayweather with a clean left hand after stepping forward into southpaw, the result of which had Mayweather stranded in the corner. Mayweather did well to turn out of the corner after doing his best to avoid the onslaught by going to the shoulder roll. Once back to the centre of the ring Mayweather began to momentarily play possum before looking to get it back from Chavez by abandoning his slick boxing and looking to land hard shots to the liver. He then drew Chavez into a pull counter that would have made his nephew proud however the Mexican great didn’t seem to notice and began again applying his forward pressure. Mayweather now wasn’t moving away as freely and was getting caught into grueling close range exchanges. The round came to an end, both had landed well but the biggest thing of note for me was that the puncher had replaced the boxer in Mayweather’s approach since getting stunned.
The third round began with a more static Mayweather looking to land on Chavez while the Mexican feinted and slipped this way and that looking to pressure and land spearing jabs before following up with hooks to body and head. It seemed Mayweather had lost the spring in his step to continue his early boxing and was also much more set on landing telling blows on his opponent. As the round continued Chavez managed to initiate the in-fight more and more in between broken up spells of longer range boxing work. A careless low blow thrown by Mayweather resulted in a point deduction that seemed harsh later into the round. As the round came to a close a pattern was emerging, Mayweather was doing his best when he kept the fight at long range while Chavez did his best by getting in close and drowning his rival with his famous mauling style.The fourth round began with Mayweather back to boxing, he was never standing still and able to turn Chavez well and clinch and turn him when he got too close. As the round developed, Mayweather landed a good right hand and right uppercut, almost immediately Chavez responded with a crushing right hand of his own which wobbled Mayweather. He attempted to get back to boxing but the legs were fading and Chavez seemed to be only getting stronger. The rest of the round saw Chavez force the action, he was slipping more shots and getting closer still to Mayweather forcing him to fight the Mexican’s style of exhausting fight.
Sensing the fading in Mayweather’s legs Chavez jogged across the ring to start the fifth round, starting the pressure as early as possible. Immediately Mayweather was pinned on the ropes looking to employ his shoulder roll guard. This round was all Chavez, his head and body attack was relentless and when Mayweather did fire back his slick head movement and smooth footwork allowed him to avoid most.
The next round was more of the same, Mayweather managed to sting Chavez a few times with solid right hands but the tempo suited Chavez more and the pace was exhausting Mayweather. Interestingly after 6 rounds famed HBO analyst Harold Lederman had it 5 rounds to 1 for Mayweather where I had it far more evenly spread.The next round was a ferocious affair with the bulk of it being contested at close range, Mayweather landed a few telling blows but this was the great Chavez’s wheel house. The end of the round was so boisterous that Mayweather’s coach leapt in the ring at the sound of the bell to separate Chavez from his fighter. As a result some pro Chavez fans launched ice and other projectiles into the ring in disgust most of which was still scattered across the ring when the two came out for the 8th round.
The instruction in the corner to Mayweather was to box, hit and move but he was too fatigued to keep away from Chavez’s assault. A minute in, Mayweather abandoned that strategy and looked to hurt Chavez hitting him with an almighty clean right hand but again Chavez took it without issue. Each of the fighters began to talk to each other as the fight was entering the latter stages. With just over a minute to go Mayweather got a second wind and turned into Roy Jones Jnr momentarily, he did the Ali shuffle and began flurrying with hooks before getting locked into a clinch which the referee had to separate them. The referee then called time because of a cut over Mayweather’s eye that bought him some time to get his wind back. The referee was happy once the doctor had given the thumbs up and they were away again. Mayweather looked to move away, tie up his man when he got too close and stand and fight in spots as Chavez poured forward looking to drown his quarry in the ferocious in-fight. The bell sounded and we were going into the 9th round of a classic.
Between rounds both fighters were having cuts worked on, Mayweather over his left eye and Chavez on the bridge of his nose. As the bell sounded Chavez, like earlier in the fight, sprang forward showing he had plenty of spring in his legs whilst Mayweather ambled forward before retreating back to the ropes. Surprisingly Chavez was cautious, perhaps sensing Mayweather was setting a trap, he seemed happy to make his opponent work for the first minute before re-launching his assault later in the round. Once past the halfway stage Chavez rejoined the fray and for the rest of the round the two were locked together in the type of trench warfare that he favoured. The bell sounded and Mayweather walked exhaustedly back to his corner.
The 10th round began with Chavez pressing and Mayweather retreating. For the first half of the round Mayweather was able to avoid his opponents pressure and pot shot him with jabs all the while slipping and sliding away. The rest of the round saw moments of Chavez momentarily cornering Mayweather and strafing him with flurries of punches whilst the American fatigued. As the round was coming to an end, Mayweather again did the Ali shuffle and looked to flurry but this time he was unable to land cleanly. The round ended and an exhausted Mayweather, with head bowed, returned to his corner with the air of a spent fighter.
As it turned out this was the final piece of action as Mayweather was unable to continue from what seemed to be exhaustion. Although he had fought well and had given the legendary Mexican trouble with his mobile strategy this fight he eventually succumbed to the relentless pressure. My first thoughts turned to the energy expended unnecessarily throwing hard flurries and doing Ali shuffles late in the fight. Could he have finished the fight if he had been more studious with his energy? We will never know but it is an interesting thought because the fight was close. This is not a criticism of Mayweather, indeed he fought brilliantly. It made me think of a previous blog I had written about the importance of being strategic. To be great it’s not just what you do but what you don’t do, everything a fighter does in principle should serve the broader strategy. To box for 12 rounds against a world class pressure fighter is many things: it’s a test of endurance, a test of will, a test of heart and perhaps most importantly a test of discipline.
So much can be learned by watching classic match ups, come back next week for another classic fight of the week.