Pound-for-Pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr (43-0, 26) returns to the ring for the first time in almost a year as he defends his WBC Welterweight title against the once beaten Robert Guerrero (31-1-1-2, 18). The bout, the first of a possible 6 bouts that Showtime will show of Mayweather will see "Money" attempting to finish off the recent rise of "The Ghost".
Aged 36 Mayweather takes not only the premier spot on most pound-for-pound charts but also one of the best records in the sport and the position as the #1 pay-per-view attraction. Though with his age comes deteriorating speed and reflexes which won't have been helped by spending a notable time in jail away from the gym and the highly level nutrition he's used to.
At his very best Mayweather is a slick counter puncher who combines very solid technical skills, impressive speed, fantastic accuracy and cat like reflexes. Defensively his shoulder-roll has proven to be near impenetrable and has helped him survive so long at the top whilst taking so little damage. Offensively he's been criticised due to his perceived lack of power though when he wishes to be spiteful he can hurt fighters with his laser guided straight right. So accurate is Mayweather that he can often lead with a straight right hands and get back in to a defensive posture before his opponent knows what has hit them.
Although Mayweather is no longer at his "best" with his feet being visibly slower than they once were he's also become more offensively minded than he once was. His pot shotting is still a delight and his combinations are a thing of beauty. In fact getting older has helped Mayweather become more offensively minded than he was when he was younger. He's not become a swarmer or a fighter looking for a war fight-in-fight out yet he's become a more offensively minded boxer.
Looking for the biggest victory of his career Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero looks to prove that he belongs in the pound-for-pound argument. Aged "just" 30 Guerrero is a fighter who has filled out from a Featherweight into a perfectly sized Welterweight who is 2-0 at 147lbs and has beaten two well regarded fighters in Selcuk Aydin and Andre Berto.
Fighting from the Southpaw stance Guerrero has proven he can box, as he did against both Aydin and Michael Katsidis as well as brawl as he did in a messy bout with Andre Berto. Whilst it was obvious that he was hurt against Aydin (especially late) he appeared to be a fully blown Welterweight against Berto where he was forcing Berto backwards repeatedly and even dropped him twice. Sure Berto is no Mayweather but it was still impressive.
For Guerrero the big question is "how do you solve a problem like Mayweather?" Trying to box him isn't an option and doing so will see him tagged by the accurate and under-rated straight right which, as we all know, is a massive threat to Southpaws. Trying to brawl might be his best option and whilst Mayweather tends not to get drawn in to them he certainly can be dirty and hold his own in them when he needs to.
The battle, at least in my eyes looks to be lost by Guerrero before the first blow has been thrown, despite the fact Guerrero has been stealing the headlines going in to the bout.
Prediction-Mayweather TKO10
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