Robert Guerrero (31-1-1, 18 KOs) has coveted a fight against Floyd Mayweather for quite some time now. Before he even deserved a shot, he was making noise about facing the biggest name in boxing. Well, he finally got his chance this week when Mayweather granted his wish.
Now that the shot is his, Guerrero has been quick to tell those willing to listen that he has more than the slim chance most experts are giving him. He believes that Floyd Mayweather is deteriorating, leaving him weaknesses to exploit.
“I see a lot of slippage,” Guerrero said in a phone interview. “I see him slowing down, as far as his legs not being as quick as they used to be.”
Those words are part of the norm for Robert Guerrero, a fighter who tends to do a lot of talking in recent years. He even admitted he doesn’t feel that Mayweather is the best fighter in boxing currently.
“In my eyes, no. There’s just so many fighters out there that he hasn’t fought, and he was picking and choosing fights,” Guerrero said. “That’s why I’m excited that I’m in the position I’m in, earning the spot where he actually is going to fight somebody who’s earned it.”
The claims of Guerrero will be seen by some as ironic considering Floyd has received criticism for choosing to fight him. However, Guerrero thinks that Mayweather has no idea who he is climbing in the ring with. That combined with his inactivity, he claims, will be his downfall.
“Definitely, he’s ripe for the picking,” Guerrero said. “You know, he’s been out for a year. … He is sharp in the ring. He puts more pressure on guys. I think that has to do with him not being able to move as good on his legs, where people think, ‘Oh, he’s changed his style.’ But I just think that when you get older and your legs start to go, you have to change direction.”
If nothing else, the pre-fight talk from Guerrero will help alleviate some of the pressure of promoting the fight from Floyd Mayweather. Typically, most of the work falls on him, but in Guerrero, he has obviously found someone to do his share.
The original question about this fight seemed to be whether or not Robert Guerrero could successfully fight at 147 pounds. The answer was clear when he beat both Selcuk Aydin and Andre Berto within the past year.
“(Mayweather) is a way smarter fighter than Berto, than Aydin,” Guerrero said. “Strength-wise, I feel he’s not as strong as either one of them. I think Berto is a lot faster, but the one thing that carries Floyd Mayweather through is his elegance in the ring. His intelligence, being able to change angles. That’s what gets him through the day.”
