Floyd “Money” Mayweather, said that “you fight better with age” after a 12-round bout with Robert Guerrero.
Coming into the fight as a 36-year-old undefeated champion who hasn’t fought over a year, no one knew what to expect from Floyd, least of all Guerrero. “He’s a little better than I thought. I thought I’d catch him,” said Guerrero, post-fight.
As the bell rang, Mayweather came out flat-footed in the first two rounds, shaking off ring rust. He was standing in the pocket with Guerrero and fans notied his speed and footwork weren’t up to what is expected of Floyd. But he may have fooled them by taking the time to read Guerrero instead. Throughout the middle rounds, Mayweather began to move and throw punches, one after another, hitting Guerrero in the face and body. Eventually cutting Guerrero above his eye and wobbling him in the eighth, both fighters still stayed upright.
In the later rounds, Mayweather showed his superiority by throwing constant right hands from different angles. Not only a straight right, but a hook right, and an uppercut right. It was like watching an overmatched fighter in that ring, unable to keep up and fight back. Mayweather’s speed, strength and footwork have not diminished at all as he approaches 40 years of age. Winning a unanimous decision with a 117-111 on all three judges’ scorecards, ran Floyd’s overall record to 44-0.
Floyd showed the world why he’s undefeated and will go down as arguably the greatest fighter to ever step into the ring. His defensive skills are impeccable and have even improved since rehiring his father. Using a Philly shell defense that allows him to utilize a shoulder roll against his opponents, it’s really hard to land good hits against him. His hand speed, in almost every fight, is 2-3 steps faster than his opponent, and the straight right hands he throws followed by left hooks are lightning quick.
What’s next for Mayweather? Many critics say the Manny Pacquiao fight is long due, but it doesn’t make sense for them to fight anymore after Pacquiao lost his last two fights. A questionable loss against Timothy Bradley and a clear cut knockout from Juan Manuel Marquez no longer makes this an attractive matchup. The three names that will be floating the next couple months will be Canelo Alvarez and Victor Ortiz.
Ortiz would be an interesting rematch, seeing how their last fight ended in a controversial knockout for the champ. These two fighters are on completely different levels and this would end in a unanimous decision for Floyd.
Canelo stands at an impressive 42-0-1, with the second longest winning streak behind Mayweather’s, and has knockout power. What’s intriguing is Canelo is only 22 years old. Although he is young and dominant, his hand speed is not the same as Mayweather. He makes up for this flaw with raw punching power. If it happens, it would be a fight between two of the greatest.
Scheduled to fight again in September, Floyd has the belts, the records and money. A love for the sport of boxing is what drives him to continue fighting, and with his father in his corner again, he looks stronger than ever and will provide the public with more dominating performances.
