Floyd Mayweather JR Vs Robert Guerrero: OFFICIAL SHOWTIME PPV MAIN EVENT BREAKDOWN – Boxing News

By Geno McGahee

This Saturday, the best pound for pound fighter in the world, Floyd Mayweather, JR., 43-0, 26 KO’s, returns to the ring against the ambitious challenger, Robert Guerrero, 31-1-1, 18 KO’s.

Floyd is 36-years-old and has not been in the ring since last May when he struggled to defeat Miguel Cotto. The later years in the career of Floyd have been memorable for both the in-ring excellence as well as the out of the ring marketing. He knows how to sell a fight and has become the biggest attraction in boxing despite his defensive style.

In the ring, Floyd picks his shots and out of the ring, he does it as well. He has faced opposition at the right time, taking on over the hill former greats like Shane Mosley (W-12), Miguel Cotto (W-12) and Oscar De La Hoya (W-12). Boxing is business and whatever makes business sense is the direction that he goes. This trend began in 2005 when he focused on fan favorite, Arturo Gatti.

Gatti was an attraction and would bring the crowd. To be the man, you’ve got to beat the man, and Mayweather knew this. He not only developed the persona of the bad guy in boxing, but he was introduced to a lot of new fans. It was a very smart match up and it posed very little risk to him inside of the ring. It was one of the most high profile mismatches in boxing history.

After Gatti, other notables like De La Hoya, Zab Judah, and Ricky Hatton were added to the list, further cementing his status as a large PPV attraction. A fight with Manny Pacquiao was the match that everyone wanted to see but it never materialized and will most likely never do so after the back to back losses for Manny. Flody doesn’t need Manny and never did, which is a great reason why that fight never happened.

Stepping away from boxing, Floyd came up with two very good ideas to further spread the word. He competed on Dancing with the Stars and then made a deal with the WWE to fight at Wrestlemania against the Big Show. It was genius. Like it or not, pro wrestling is far more popular than boxing and now that audience knew Floyd.

Inside of the ring, Floyd has changed his style a little as Father Time stepped in. He doesn’t move that much anymore and has begun trading a little. When his opponent is tired, he stalks them. He is still incredibly difficult to hit and he has great timing. His power is underrated. If he was more aggressive, he would stop more opponents. He opts to play it safe and if the KO happens, so be it. He’s not going to force the issue.

Guerrero is a southpaw brawler that throws a lot of punches and takes a lot as well. He proved that he can take a shot from a strong welterweight when Andre Berto clocked him repeatedly with jarring uppercuts. The victory over Berto secured this fight.

The defeat on his record came in 2005 and it was via split decision. He could easily be undefeated heading into this fight with Floyd and he does present some problems that will need to be addressed.

Floyd has had the most issues with two sorts of fighters: pressure fighters and southpaws. Here, we have both. Floyd has shown that he is open for straight lefts and right hooks and that is what will be thrown at him from the opening bell. Expect the first few rounds to be incredibly interesting, but the biggest factor in the fight is the resolve of Guerrero. When Floyd gets into his groove, will he get frustrated or will he regroup? That is a big question.

The Berto fight showed the best and worst of Guerrero. Expect Floyd to exploit the incredible amounts of openings…primarily the right uppercut. Guerrero will have to work extra hard to get in there and should focus on jabbing and body work, eventually leading to a head attack. This is a difficult puzzle for him to solve and he only has 12 rounds to do it. Floyd could easily cruise to a wide UD and that is the most likely end result.

Guerrero is tough and determined, but so were many others that stepped into the ring with Floyd. It will take somebody special to beat him and it doesn’t appear that he’s up against that. Unless Father Time has caught up completely with Mayweather, JR., expect a wide win with a scare or two along the way.