Despite the fact that Floyd "Money" Mayweather is 43-0 and perhaps one of the greatest boxers of all time, some pundits expect him to prove himself time and time again. Mayweather should worry about scoring a victory on Saturday, but it doesn't matter how he scores it.
Mayweather will put both his unblemished record and WBC Welterweight Championship on the line against Robert Guerrero on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. All eyes will be on Mayweather as he attempts to remain perfect in the ring, so he is likely experiencing some pressure to win in spectacular fashion.
With 26 knockouts in 43 victories, Mayweather is no stranger to winning by way of knockout, but he generally aims to win big fights on the scorecards. The bulk of his knockouts came early in his career when he was able to outclass inferior opponents. Mayweather still does that on occasion, but the fights are much fairer now than they were in 1996 and 1997.
Out of his eight fights since 2006, six of them have gone to the scorecards. His knockout victory over Victor Ortiz in 2011 was controversial, as he tagged an unsuspecting Ortiz after the referee broke up the fighters. Essentially, Mayweather relies more on deception than pure punching power when it comes to knockouts, so he generally isn't going to seek them out.
If an opportunity arises during the fight with Guerrero that allows Money to put Guerrero on the canvas, he should obviously take it. At the same time, Mayweather shouldn't abandon his normal game plan just to knock Guerrero out. Mayweather knows that he has the stamina and the poise necessary to score a decision victory, so that should be his main objective.
Guerrero claims he has a blueprint capable of beating Mayweather. According to Josh Slagter of MLive.com, he acknowledged that most fighters enter a bout against Mayweather with a game plan, but for whatever reason they fail to execute. Guerrero believes that things will go differently for him.
Most of the time, by the time they get in the ring, it's already out the window. They're so mad, or they're scared, and their thought process is just blank when they're in the ring with Floyd. You gotta be ready, and you gotta be able to make those adjustments, and that's what I'm gonna do in the ring.
Guerrero hasn't tipped his hand regarding his game plan, but it probably involves being the aggressor and attempting to knock out Mayweather or at least stun him to some degree. It would be easy for Mayweather to abandon his usual strategy if Guerrero comes out firing, but he needs to make sure that he doesn't get sucked into "The Ghost's" trap.
It's possible that Mayweather could lose a power-punching contest to Guerrero. The Ghost has 18 career knockouts in 31 victories and appears to be more powerful, whereas Mayweather is quicker. Mayweather wants to play to his own strengths rather than Guerrero's, so he shouldn't stay away from what he is comfortable with.
Despite Mayweather's success and stardom, there's a school of thought that suggests he is a boring fighter. While it's true that Mayweather generally doesn't trade power punches and get involved in Rocky-esque brawls, he is as technically sound as boxers come and executes every nuance to perfection.
Mayweather has never really worried about what others think of him, though, and he probably won't start caring now. When push comes to shove, he simply has to protect his undefeated record and win the fight in any way he can.
If that means knocking Guerrero out, then so be it, but it is much more likely that Mayweather will nickel and dime him on the scorecards and ultimately score a unanimous-decision win.
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