Floyd "Money" Mayweather is still the WBC Welterweight champion after defeating Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero via unanimous decision Saturday night.
Under the bright lights of the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Money May turned back the clock once more with a vintage performance that encapsulated perfectly the elusive defense and strong counter-punching we've come to expect over the years from the superstar.
If you missed the fight at all or are simply intrigued as to how the fight impacted the near future for both fighters, read on to find out the biggest storylines that emerged from this epic pay-per-view bout.
Money May Still Sharp, Where to From Here?
He might have come into this fight at age 36 and without a single fight in 12 months under his belt, but Mayweather showed that he is still just as sharp as ever.
Maybe not in the first round, but even towards the second, Mayweather was starting to find his feet in the ring again and establish a good rhythm. He was connecting on his punches and getting his feet going as part of his elusive defense—things that we've come to expect from Money May.
After dominating the middle rounds—particularly that of the sixth and the eighth—it was clear that Mayweather had a lead that was not going to be touched. Perhaps most importantly, he proved that he's still going to be a huge threat in his upcoming fights—whoever they might be against.
Saul "Canelo" Alvarez is seemingly the most likely opponent for Money May to take on, but there's no official word on that. Reports had originally suggested he may be taking on Alvarez in a fight on the day before Mexican Independence Day—which would make for an epic pay-per-view in and of itself—but there's been no confirmation from either side as to whether that fight is going ahead.
One thing is for certain: whomever Money May fights, they'll certainly have their work cut out for them. Father Time hasn't caught up with this 36-year-old just yet.
"The Ghost" Impressive in Defeat
It might not have seemed like it given the dominance served up to him by Mayweather, but Guerrero was deceptively impressive in the unanimous decision defeat.
Money May brought his A-game to the fight and was in control from the second round onwards, but that didn't stop "The Ghost" from trying to launch some strong attacks—even when he'd just been tagged with a sharp right hook from Mayweather or an excellent one-two combination.
Guerrero was simply up against a better fighter here, and a much better defender than he had accounted for. He missed on over 80 percent of his punches, and whilst he tried valiantly against Mayweather, he was shown to be second best on the night—something that isn't necessarily his fault given how impressive Mayweather was here.
"The Ghost" looked poor against a superstar. But is that really that bad?
I'd argue probably not and that Guerrero still had some strong takeaways here.
How's Mayweather's Hand? How Will it Impact the Future?
After the fight, Mayweather took off his glove and revealed a hand injury—telling reporters that the injury was the reason why he was unable to go for a knockout in the fight. He then brushed off an interview question about potentially fighting Alvarez (per Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix).
Mayweather then told Yahoo! Sports after the fight:
Well, I think that in the ninth round, he was retreating. I was keeping the pressure and I think that's the round I hurt my hand in.
My dad wanted be to go and finish the job in round 10, but I couldn't because my hand was hurting. But that comes with the territory.
I thought I could knock this guy out but there's nothing I can do if I got hurt. [Only] to get the victory the best way I know how.
How this will impact his future still remains to be seen, with the biggest question as to whether it will scuttle his potential fight in September with Alvarez.
Mayweather has a 30-month schedule, according to his new contract, and will likely fight up to six times in that time period. The first of those was this weekend but when the next one will be (or who it will be against) still remains to be seen and could well be complicated with this latest injury.
Time will tell just how serious the injury is for Money May.
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