Floyd Mayweather appears set to finish his career with an undefeated record.
After defeating Robert Guerrero by unanimous decision in a highly anticipated bout, the champion proved why he is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
Money was absolutely dominant in the victory even though he was unable to end the fight early with a knockout. CompuBox posted the final stats on Twitter, and some of the numbers were simply staggering:
The first statistic that leaps out is the fact that Mayweather landed 60 percent of his power punches. He used incredible precision to get after his opponent when he found an opening and that led to a great deal of damage.
Additionally, the talented fighter's defense was as strong as ever. Guerrero only landed 19 percent of his overall punches, but more notably only attempted 48 punches per round, which was down from an average of 71 in his previous two fights.
Mayweather's speed around the ring and quickness in close prevented The Ghost from even getting a hand on him. The eventual winner had complete control of the bout and the final result was never in question.
The fact that he could be this sharp at 36 years old without competing in over a year is simply incredible.
In addition, it is important to note that Guerrero is no slouch that was simply thrown into the ring. The veteran fighter had a 31-1-1 record coming into this match and had earned the interim welterweight championship. His ability to strike with power makes him a tough fighter to beat.
Still, Mayweather basically toyed with the challenger and did enough to earn the unanimous decision.
While fans will now start clamoring for some tougher competition in future fights, it will not matter. Opponents like Saul "Canelo" Alvarez or even Manny Pacquiao would come up short against the undefeated champ.
The reason that he will remain successful is style in the ring. Mayweather showed in his last match that he does not need to ever go for a knockout to easily defeat an opponent. Instead, he can stay active as a defender and wait for his opportunity to strike.
With his precision punching and the ability to avoid damage from opponents, he can pretty much win the majority of rounds against anyone. If someone gets too aggressive looking for a knockout, Money can come through with a big counterpunch like he has done so many times in the past.
Although he might lose some quickness with age, his instincts and technique will never leave. This will allow him to maintain the same level of success as time goes on.
Mayweather strongly hinted at retiring after his current six-fight, 30-month contract Showtime runs out. According to Dan Rafael of ESPN, he said:
In 30 months my career is over. I want to rack up my six victories and hopefully do commentating and keep the sport of boxing alive. That's what I'm focused on...After this fight I've got five more fights. That's all I got to do, finish putting them stamps on my legacy.
As long as he continues to perform like he did against Guerrero, there is no one out there that can beat him. He no longer cares about putting on a show, as long as he gets the victory. His technique will allow him to get the W against anyone.
If he actually does retire after five more fights, we will likely be looking at one of the best of all time after finishing with a 49-0 record.
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