Mayweather vs Guerrero: Keys to Victory, Four to Explore, Official Prediction

05/04/2013 Vivek Wallace

Tonight, the world of boxing welcomes the return of P4P King, Floyd Mayweather. Another year away from the ring and a short incarceration stint will play their hand at leveraging what most consider to be sheer greatness. Whether or not the man across from him (Robert Guerrero) holds the key to exploit this possibility is another story. That question we can’t answer. What we can answer is the fact that between the calendar year of 2012 and current, something very interesting happened in the world of Boxing.

All the men who dominated the sport in close proximity to Mayweather saw things come to an abrupt end. Cotto, Pacquiao, Margarito, Williams, and Mosley were each ushered one by one to the doorstep of retirement. Some refuse to walk in, yet each clearly have one foot in, one foot out. Mayweather remains the last man standing of that golden era. Quickly, we take a look at the odds of him remaining that way beyond tonight:

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Left-Hook Lounge: Is ‘Canleo’ Ready For Mayweather, and Could Cotto Be Next?

04/22/2013 Vivek Wallace

Reggie B. (Dallas, TX): I’m still not sold on Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. I don’t think Trout fought his best fight. Do you think Canelo is ready for a Mayweather fight?

Vivek W. (ESB): I have to be honest and very direct in saying that I simply feel people just aren’t ready to give Saul Alvarez credit. Coming into this fight I knew that Trout would have to be at his best and that he would need to execute somewhat flawlessly to even have a shot. Despite his activity rate, he didn’t do any damage, and furthermore, he didn’t do enough to truly seize the victory from Canelo. I think we have to be honest in saying that the deck was already stacked against him – in the sense that Canelo was the house fighter. It was Mexican “Fiesta” weekend in San Antonio, Canelo is the bigger name and the international name, and despite Trout’s victory over Cotto, Canelo was the one who carried the promotion.

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WBC positioning Khan for Mayweather mega-fight

04/06/2013 Bill Phanco

khan4353 The World Boxing Council updated their rankings this week and installed Amir Khan (27-3, 19 KO’s) as their number #2 contender at 147. This is a clear move to put Khan in line for a title shot against WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. because there’s no other way of looking at it. The WBC has positioned Khan for Mayweather and it seems like that’s a fight that the WBC wants because why else would they rank a fighter whose career is sinking at the moment.

Khan has never fought at 147 before during his career and he’s lost two out of his last three fights since 2011. The WBC giving Khan – or any fighter – a #2 ranking after having lost two out of their last three fights is incredibly disappointing because it seems so transparent what the WBC is trying to do. I won’t be surprised if Khan is moved to the #1 position if he gets beaten by Julio Diaz this month on April 27th in Sheffield.

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Mayweather picks Donaire to defeat Rigondeaux

04/05/2013 Jeff Sorby

donaire22 Floyd Mayweather Jr. is going with WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (31-1, 20 KO’s) to get past WBA super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (11-0, 8 KO’s) next week in their fight on April 13th at the Radio City Music Hall in New York, New York. Mayweather is picking the 30-year-old Donaire to defeat by knockout.

Mayweather said on his twitter: “People won’t like this but I’ll put it out there @filipinoflash (Donaire) will win VIA KO (knockout).”

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Is Floyd Mayweather Jr. to Blame for the HBO GBP split?

03/29/201303/28/2013 Robert Jackson

floyd8 floyd8 Whether it’s Floyd Mayweather Jr. – the guy that everyone loves to hate, just signing a big money deal with the Showtime Network for whom he bolted from HBO for, or other reasons, HBO has now struck back, severing it’s boxing relationship with Golden Boy promotions (GBP) whom Mayweather has collaborated with for his last few fights.

HBO’s claims of Mayweather’s defection having no affect on their boxing program couldn’t be farther from the truth. Truth is they wanted Mayweather and his move was an unexpected shock to HBO who stands to lose millions of dollars and its #1 status from Mayweather PPV’s. So HBO had to do something, cutting their losses they went after the group who reportedly brokered the Mayweather/Showtime deal; Golden Boy Promotions.

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Robert Guerrero turns 30 today; getting ready for Mayweather

03/27/2013 Bill Phanco

01GuerreroenteringpresserIMG_0033 (Photo credit: Casino/Showtime) Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero (31-1-1, 18 KO’s) turned 30-years-old today, March 27th. Guerrero has been spending a lot of time meeting with different media personalities in the past couple of weeks as he’s getting ready for his May 4th fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. (43-0, 26 KO’s).

Guerrero was on Good Morning America, ESPN, and most recently meeting with Sean Hannity from Fox News. Guerrero seems to be really milking the opportunity to make a name for himself outside of the ring.

It’s hard to remember a fighter doing as much meeting with the media than what Guerrero is doing now. He seems to live for this. It’s too bad that this can’t go on forever because this is something he’s good at. The problem is he’s going to have to perform in the ring on May 4th, and I just don’t think it’s possible for him to pull off the upset over Mayweather.

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Canelo: I hope Guerrero beats Mayweather

03/26/201303/26/2013 Rob Smith

guerrero54 WBC 154 lb. champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is pulling for WBC interim welterweight champion Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero (31-1-1, 18 KO’s) to cause a big upset on May 4th by beating undefeated WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (43-0, 26 KO’s) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Canelo said to esnewsreportingcom: “Anything can happen in boxing, but I hope Guerrero wins.”

It’s interesting that Canelo is hoping that Guerrero gets the victory because this would be something that would hurt Canelo by having Mayweather’s unbeaten record taken away by somebody else. That undefeated record is obviously something that helps bring huge money to Mayweather with fan interest.

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Mayweather-Guerrero: Will Robert’s pressure/high punch volume work against Floyd?

03/26/201303/25/2013 Jeff Sorby

guerrero34 WBC interim welterweight champion Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero (31-1-1, 18 KO’s) really only has one way to beat WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (43-0, 26 KO’s) on May 4th and that’s by using the same game plan that he employed in his recent fight against Andre Berto last November in throwing a lot of punches.

Guerrero, 29, was able to overwhelm Berto with nonstop punches, and give him a real beating in the process of winning a 12 round unanimous decision. To be sure, Guerrero was helped immensely by Berto’s decision to use the shoulder roll defense for the first time in his career, and by choosing to fight with his back against the ropes instead of staying in the center of the ring.

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The Setup: Mayweather vs. Broner

03/14/201303/14/2013 ESB

broner4 broner4 By Robert Jackson: With the news that Adrien Broner will be facing WBA 147lb Champion Paulie Malignaggi next, why this move and not Amir Khan, or Lamont Peterson both available 1 weight class up at 140lb? Furthermore after only 2 fights there, Broner hasn’t cleaned out the 135lb weight class he just moved into from the 130lb division. At 135lbs, Yuri Gamboa has been calling Broner out and this writer believes that would be a makeable, great fight. 135lb Champion Richard Abril also has Broner in his sights.

Promoted by Golden Boy Promotions both Malignaggi and Broner will be in a showcase fight, but I would expect Broner to win and maybe stop the Brooklyn native. It would probably resemble Mayweather/Gatti. This would be the best case scenario for Golden Boy, who as promoters of the heir apparent to Money Mayweather would have bragging rights and the next big star. Broner’s upward mobility, flashy style and good looks could even upstage Canelo Alvarez who’s also vying to be the next great fighter.

But don’t get it wrong, Golden Boy is moving Broner up to 147lbs for a reason and as every fight historian will tell you the torch is passed by the veteran fighter taking on the up-and-comer and LOSING to him. This happened in recent times when Kostya Tszyu fought Ricky Hatton and lost passing the 140lb torch to the Englishman.

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Canelo could pull out of May 4th PPV card if he doesn’t receive Mayweather fight guarantee

02/27/201302/27/2013 ESB

alvarez3 - Copy By Kevin Chittenden: Floyd Mayweather Jr’s May 4th card could take a big hit if WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (41-0-1, 30 KO’s) chooses to pull out of the card and fight on another date. Canelo was supposed to be the co-main event in a fight against WBA junior middleweight champion Austin Trout, but Canelo reportedly wants a guarantee from Mayweather that he’ll fight him on September 14th.

Canelo won’t sign for the May 4th fight date unless he receives that guarantee, and it doesn’t look like Mayweather is going to go that. It was thought that Mayweather would fight Canelo in September, but maybe he has other ideas or possibly he doesn’t like the idea of Canelo trying to force the fight instead of letting Mayweather select him.

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