By Lance Lank: In a recent interview with RingTV Robert “the Ghost” Guerrero said, “During the face-off I could see that I was just physically bigger than Floyd…But it’s not about who is going to be the bigger guy in the ring. It’s going to be about who is smarter in the ring. Because, with Floyd Mayweather, no matter how big you are it doesn’t matter.” This is rather obvious though. Anyone could see in the face-off that Guerrero is slightly bigger than Floyd.
Also, anyone that is familiar with Floyd’s career knows he has fought bigger opponents time and time again. One can go all the way back to his masterpiece performance against the late, great Diego Corrales, or as recently as his last fight against Miguel Cotto, where Floyd gave up around 15 pounds when he entered the ring. Size has never really mattered with Mayweather, because Floyd has the speed and ring IQ to overcome that.
It’s good to know Guerrero realizes being slightly bigger than Mayweather doesn’t amount to any real advantage; however it is also worrisome to hear that Guerrero believes that the fight will come down to who’s smarter in the ring. Floyd has possibly the highest ring IQ of any boxer in history. He never gets flustered, rather he’s facing jail time, family feuds, or even a near riot breaking out in the ring during his bout with Zab Judah.
Mayweather seems to be able to always block out everything when in the ring and stay 100% focused on the opponent and task in front of him. His ability to switch game plans and change tactics in the middle of a fight is one of his greatest strengths.
Guerrero probably has the best chance of any current welterweight to upset the pound-for-pound king. He is the highest ranked welterweight Floyd hasn’t already beat, a top ten pound-for-pound fighter himself, good speed, good power (he dropped the bigger Berto twice in his last bout), good footwork, a good ring IQ, a southpaw, and in his prime.
In order to dethrone Mayweather Guerrero will have to utilize all these skills and hope that the 36 year old Mayweather’s reflexes, speed, or stamina has succumbed some to age; because the Mayweather we are used to seeing is a defensive master rather it be through pot-shotting and boxing circles around opponents or using his should-roll and head movement to avoid punishment while standing right in front of his opponent and delivering hard, clean counter shots of his own. Come May 4th if Guerrero is correct that it’s going to come down to who is smarter in the ring, than Mayweather will almost surely be 44-0 by the end of the night.
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