Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Robert Guerrero Preview May 4
Unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. takes on Robert Guerrero at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday May 4. Mayweather, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, is also recognized by most fans and boxing insiders as the top pound-for-pound boxer on the globe and will be defending his WBC Welterweight title belt. This will just be Guerrero’s third fight as a welterweight and it certainly won’t be an easy one.
The 36-year-old Mayweather will be climbing through the ropes with a perfect record of 43-0 with 26 Kos to go along with it. Mayweather’s won world titles in five different weight divisions so far in his career and his last bout, against Miguel Cotto in May of 2012, was in the 154 lb junior middleweight division. It was one of the toughest fights of Mayweather’s career, but he won it by a unanimous decision. His two previous bouts were at welterweight. These were a 12-round unanimous decision over Shane Mosley and a controversial fourth-round knockout over Victor Ortiz.
This is Mayweather’s first fight since serving a jail sentence last June for domestic violence. Mayweather may be a lot of things, but he’s not stupid when it comes to the boxing ring. He usually chooses opponents because he spots a weakness in them which he knows he can exploit. He prefers to fight aggressive boxers who come towards him and that’s what he’ll get when meeting Guerrero. This is because Mayweather’s an excellent defensive fighter who prefers to counter punch and he’s quite good at it.
Guerrero of Gilroy, California is a former titleholder in two different divisions (featherweight and super featherweight) and will be hoping to make it three. However, he has also held interim lightweight and welterweight crowns. He enters the fight with a record of 31-1-1 with 18 KOs. Guerrero is a 30-year-old southpaw and a good boxer, but probably falls just a little short of being an elite one. He’s been moving up in weight throughout his career and showed against Andre Berto last year that he can handle the 147 lb welterweight class as he beat him by a dominating unanimous decision.
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He fought at just 122.5 lbs when turning pro back in 2001. He won the IBF featherweight title in 2006 and the IBF super featherweight crown in 2009. In April of 2011 he won the interim WBO and WBA lightweight titles with a unanimous decision over Michael Katsidis. Guerrero’s not the tallest welterweight around at 5-foot-8 with a 70-inch reach. When boxing in the lower weight divisions he usually had a height and reach advantage, but that’s not going to be the case against Mayweather as the champion’s also 5-foot-8 with a 72-inch reach.
Prediction
Guerrero will perform better against Mayweather if he utilizes his inside boxing skills. He got decent power and speed and can move around the ring with the best of them. He needs to use his jab, attack with combinations and then get out of Mayweather’s range quickly. Mayweather doesn’t like to fight all three minutes of a round unless absolutely necessary and the challenger shouldn’t allow him to rest.
It’s hard to outbox and outthink Mayweather though and that’s what makes this a tough task for Guerrero. But since Mayweather’s somewhat lazy, he can be out jabbed and Guerrero will need to keep it in his face all night long. If he follows them up with power shots to Mayweather’s body he could slow him down a little. It’s still going to be an uphill climb for the challenger though, and the bout will likely end with Mayweather keeping the title by a relatively close decision.
Odds
Sportsbook 5dimes.eu has the latest odds of a Mayweather win at -700 and a Guerrero victory at +500. Visit 5Dimes.eu to see up to date odds and to bet on this fight. You should also check out our recent boxing betting predictions to see how we’ve done of late capping the fights.
Floyd Mayweather betting • Robert Guerrero betting