Mayweather, Teeth, Guerrero
FLOYD CERTAINLY HAS SPEED ADVANTAGE
San Francisco, CA– Floyd “Money” Mayweather may be undefeated, but no man ever beats Father Time. At 36 years of age, the 1996 Olympic Bronze medal winner is ripe for an upset. I hate using cliches, but the first thing to go in a fighter are his legs and “Little Floyd” is noticeably less mobile in recent outings. Previously almost untouchable, Floyd was impacted with more punches than usual in his last fight, a May 2012 encounter with Miguel Cotto. Many seemed to feel the Mayweather speed waned just a tad, which can be quite significant for a fighter like Mayweather who relies largely on his hand and foot speed in the ring.
“THE GHOST” HAS “SNEAKY” ARRAY OF PUNCHES
His opponent is Robert “The Ghost”Guerrero, who at 31 is still bathing in the fountain of youth. In Guerrero, Mayweather will be facing a determined fighter who possesses an awkward southpaw style that knows how to use this to his advantage against right-handed fighters. With deceptive quickness, “The Ghost” sneaks his right hook in and this is a punch Mayweather’s shoulder roll defense may be especially vulnerable to seeing Floyd’s low left guard. He also sets up his straight left hand very well, placing himself just outside of his opponent’s jab before firing his power punch.
Floyd Mayweather-Miguel Cotto
GUERRERO ANTICIPATES DIVINE INTERVENTION
Will Robert Guerrero be the first man to blemish the Mayweather record, as he claims God has destined him to do. Probably not and here’s why.
UNDERRATED MENTAL & PHYSICAL STRENGTH A MAYWEATHER INTANGIBLE
Mayweather has often been criticized for being a soft puncher but this is an undeserved reputation. He may not be a one-punch knockout artist but he’s never one to go looking for the stoppage. Doing so would place him in harms way which is antithetical to his safety-first fighting nature. “Sugar Shane” Mosley said in the recent issue of Ring Magazine that Mayweather hits as hard as Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, a bigger man than Floyd who is highly praised for his punching pop. Floyd’s goal in throwing punches is usually just to keep his opponent’s honest and at bay. If you go forward and try to press the action, he’ll capitalize on the openings you present and rattle you good before taking you out. Look at Victor Ortiz, Ricky Hatton, the deceased trio of Arturo Gatti, Diego Corrales and Genaro Hernandez, and you get the point.
SOME SAY GUERRERO WILL BE STRONGER…NOT YOURS TRULY
One must also remember that Guerrero is an ascending featherweight (126 lb.) jr. (130) and lightweight (135) and although he seems to be adapting to 147 with ease thus far, he will be in with a naturally bigger and stronger man. Robert may have been able to push a buffed welter in Andre Berto around, but as Mayweather said during their photo shoot to hype the bout, “This ain’t Berto!”
FIGHTING UP CLOSE & PERSONAL ON “THE INSIDE”
Speaking of the Berto fight, if Guerrero attempts to bully Mayweather inside and push him to the ropes he’ll be in for a surprise. The aforementioned Ricky Hatton tried the same tactic during their 2007 encounter only to be roughed up himself and eventually flattened inside the distance. Floyd is the most intelligent fighter in the game. There is no exception when it comes to fighting in close quarters. Miguel Cotto and most famously Jose Luis Castillo, both have had limited success with Mayweather on the inside but that is because they had a viable “inside” game, something Robert doesn’t.
HEAD MOVEMENT MORE THAN JUST FOR TIGHT DEFENSE
Cotto and Castillo were able to throw Mayweather’s timing off by keeping him guessing with their head movement and throwing a variety of punches. Guerrero doesn’t move his head. It’s in one place the entire night and will be an easy find for Mayweather. While Guerrero’s punches will be seen on the inbound a boxing a mile away, expect Robert to give his all and create some early moments of discomfort. OK, that being said, I see Guerrero eventually eating uppercuts like breakfast cereal, uppercut after uppercut, and the occasional money-punch from “Money” himself, the straight right.
NO SWAMI NEEDED AT END OF COLUMN!
At the end of the day, Guerrero can be credited for being a very, very good fighter. He does a lot of things “adequately, but is not superlative in any one department.” Robert has youth, size, incredible desire, but is really in unchartered waters here. On the flip-side, Floyd Mayweather is great in every category Guerrero is good at. Unless we have seriously underestimated the pop in Robert’s punchm chin’s durability or it could be that Mayweather has slipped much further than any of us have speculated. That is always the unknown in prizefighting, when you cannot no longer pull the trigger. Anyway, I can’t see the “pound for pound” king of boxing NOT leaving the MGM Grand Grand Arena a perfect 44 & zip!
Jason B. Nava