"I mean, knockouts are very important, but every fighter paints a picture in his own way...I've had good days, I've had bad days, but when it's time to fight, I always find a way to win," stated retired undefeated former pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather, who shared his thoughts on which aspect of boxing is most important: offense or defense. His answer may surprise you. Check it out!
BT: In football, there's a saying that goes, "Defense wins championships!" What do you consider to be more important in boxing, offense or defense?
FM: Both! I mean, knockouts are very important, but every fighter paints a picture in his own way. You got to have a little bit of everything; a little bit of offense, a little bit of defense, you know, communications skills. You gotta be able to articulate extremely well. A little bit of everything plays a major key. You got to have the right people on your team and you got to know certain players. You have to know how to play the game right.
BT: I was talking to another fighter one time and he told me that most people don't realize that footwork is probably more important than anything you do with your hands inside the ring. Do you agree with that statement?
FM: While you were asking that question, something went through my mind and I thought about Ali. Ali, when he was moving, I think he was at his best. When he sat on the ropes and done the rope-a-dope, that caused a lot of damage to the brain of Ali. It hurt my feelings. It really, really hurts my feelings to this day to see him like that. I wish he would've continued to move on his legs and got out the sport early. You have to retire from the sport; you can't let the sport retire you.
BT: Recently, you told my boy Luis that you've never been pushed to the point where you had to bring out your A game. That being said, what fight would you consider to be your best performance?
FM: Out of every fight, when I look at the Diego [Corrales] fight...I don't watch my fights, but you know, on social media, people are always posting my fights. Someone on my team that's messaging me is on social media, so when I look, I'm like, oh, okay, I could've did this better, I could've done that better. I've never had a perfect fight throughout my career. None of my fights, to me, out of 49, no fight was perfect. I could've been better. All 49 fights, I could've been better. I still wasn't pleased with no fight because I knew I could've did better. Throughout my career, I always said this about training. In the boxing gym, I had a lot of good days and I had bad days. I done sparred and I wasn't happy with the way I was boxing or the way I looked. I wasn't happy with the way I was working the mitts or working the heavy bag. I've had good days, I've had bad days, but when it's time to fight, I always find a way to win.
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