Floyd Mayweather came into his fight against Robert Guerrero undefeated, but with serious question marks surrounding his age and durability on the grand stage.
He left with just one of those things in tact—his incredible undefeated record.
"Money" Mayweather started a little shower than expected against a strong Guerrero, but over the course of the next few rounds, it was clear that the champion still had everything he needed to succeed—his elusiveness, his pace and his experience.
There were no signs of ring rust from Money, and after a strong 12-round performance, he emerged with victory to his name via an unanimous decision.
Mayweather showed that he's still the pound-for-pound king in boxing and he's still the guy to beat. But more than that, he proved to his doubters that even after spending a year on the sidelines—including some time in a Las Vegas jail from a misdemeanor domestic battery case—he is still the top dog.
One year between fights might have seemed like a long time, but not for Mayweather. After all, this is a guy who's taken periods of 16 months and 21 months off in recent years, and he still came away with the same perfect record and winning result, despite facing some quality opponents.
If anybody was primed to put up a strong showing from a hiatus, it was Mayweather—as he proved with his strong performance against "The Ghost."
He'd spoken about it in the weeks leading up to the fight (per ESPN), but even then, nobody could completely take his word for it until he had backed it up.
"No one has a blueprint in how to beat Floyd Mayweather Jr," the American said.
"All 43 opponents had a gameplan, all 43 came up short. I don't think the layoff will hurt me. I've faced every style, so it's not hard for me to make adjustments."
And then he backed up those words with action.
He took his time to warm up against Guerrero, with his opponent certainly getting the better of Mayweather a couple of times in the early rounds.
Yet between the sixth and the eighth rounds particularly, Money May made his presence known—opening up Guerrero with a cut to start the eighth and showcasing plenty of offensive firepower in amongst his defensive prowess.
Despite Guerrero trying to apply the pressure and crack the Mayweather code, he was simply unable to break through the 36-year-old's phenomenal defense.
Even after a year outside of the ring.
Perhaps having such a long break would have affected an average fighter.
Maybe being 36 and seeing your reflexes fade would have impacted most as well.
But if we've learned anything from Mayweather's incredible professional career, and from his fight against Guerrero on Saturday night, it's that this isn't a regular or average fighter we're talking about.
This is Floyd "Money" Mayweather—still, your WBC Welterweight champion.
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