Mayweather vs. Berto: Analyzing Punch Stats That Impacted Title-Fight Results

Whether you love Floyd Mayweather Jr. or hate him, one thing is an undeniable fact: He's a defensive genius and an incredibly accurate puncher. In historical terms, he's one of the best ever when it comes to hitting without getting hit. 

Those qualities were on full display Saturday night in Las Vegas, when he defeated Andre Berto in what Mayweather claims will be the final fight of his professional career. As this tweet from CompuBox demonstrates, for people who make it their business to count punches, it's impossible not to be impressed by the numbers Mayweather put up in this one:

That's a full 40 percent difference in punches landed. To put it into context, it's important to remember that, in order to hit an opponent, a fighter has to be close enough to that opponent to get hit in return. 

So even in a mismatch such as this fight, it's stunning for one boxer to land with that kind of accuracy while being so stingy in allowing himself to get hit in return.

For promoter Lou DiBella, it was an impressive display, regardless of opponent:

With this kind of disparity in the punch stats, it's no surprise that the cards were one-sided. Indeed, I have a hard time seeing how Berto deserved a single round, though judge Dave Moretti gave him three and Steve Weisfeld awarded him two. 

Adalaide Byrd had it 120-108, a shutout for Mayweather. 

At the same time, just as the punch stats demonstrate how great Mayweather is, they also underscore why he ultimately failed during his career to connect emotionally with many fans. Against an extremely overmatched opponent, Mayweather still threw a fairly meager 410 punches. 

The lack of activity in this fight was highlighted by the undercard bout that preceded it: Roman Martinez's draw with Orlando Salido. 

Salido's CompuBox numbers for the fight tell the story of an aging former champion doing everything possible to reclaim his belt:

Martinez's own activity rate was also impressive. 

Here's a final takeaway from the punch stats that shouldn't be overlooked: While he was way overmatched in this fight, Berto did put everything he could into trying to win. Berto's 495 punches thrown is not particularly high, but it has to be remembered that Mayweather is a fighter who doesn't give opponents a lot of opportunities to get into range. 

As poorly as Berto did in this bout, this stat from ESPN is telling:

Berto might not have done a good job of cutting off the ring on Mayweather on Saturday night and may have been a poor choice for Money's final opponent. But ultimately, he put a lot more effort into getting into range to throw punches than the superstar Manny Pacquiao did in his "Fight of the Century" with Mayweather last spring.