Guerrero vs. Mayweather: What's Next for the Ghost After Loss to Money May?

For the better part of two months, Floyd Mayweather and Robert Guerrero engaged in some of the most heated trash talk ever heard in the buildup to a major prize fight in boxing. Assisted heavily by their fathers and Showtime’s All Access documentary show, nothing was left unsaid by either side.

On Saturday night from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Guerrero showed that just because you can talk the talk, doesn’t mean you can walk the walk. He was dominated over 12, one-sided rounds and failed to prove that he had the right formula to beat Floyd Mayweather.

The times that Guerrero did get Mayweather where he wanted him—against the ropes—Guerrero was proved too slow to take advantage. Not only was he too slow, but he was also not active enough.

According to CompuBox stats, Guerrero averaged 71 punches thrown per round in his two previous welterweight bouts against Selcuk Aydin and Andre Berto, respectively. Against Mayweather, Guerrero only averaged 48 punches per round.

In the buildup to the fight, Guerrero insisted that he would get off to a quick start and try to replicate his rough and tough performance against Berto. He was supposed to lay into Mayweather’s chest, let his hands go and not let Floyd have an easy time escaping off the ropes.

Prior to the fight in an interview with Marcos Villegas of FightHubTV.com, Guerrero said a lot of things that got fight fans excited and led them to believe that he would have a shot at dethroning the pound-for-pound king.

Among the most important things that Guerrero mentioned to Villegas was his acknowledgement that you have to be able to make adjustments against Mayweather and be able to execute a game plan.

While Guerrero demonstrated tons of heart, the general consensus was that Mayweather boxed masterfully and simply dominated Guerrero.

"

As far as championships go this is tantamount to Notre Dame v Alabama. #totallylopsided. @floydmayweather was masterful.

— Desmond Howard (@DesmondHoward) May 5, 2013"

"

119-109 ... if you have it any different, stop watching boxing. #boxing #mayday

— Pistolero Pazzy (@vinnie_paz) May 5, 2013"

After living up to his “Ghost” nickname and not showing up in the biggest fight of his career, where does Robert Guerrero go from here?

First of all, he needs to be honest with himself. In the post-fight interview with Jim Gray, Guerrero said that he would be back and wanted yet another shot at Floyd Mayweather. I’m sorry, but Guerrero had his shot, he couldn’t deliver and now he must move on.

Guerrero is a tough guy who will give most opponents a heck of a fight, but Floyd Mayweather unequivocally proved that he and Guerrero are on two different levels. The idea of a second fight should never be uttered again.

Guerrero should take some time off and see where the chips fall in terms of some other good fights that are coming up.

Marcos Maidana has a competitive matchup versus Josesito Lopez on June 8. The winner, or even the loser, of that fight would provide a good test for Guerrero. Even though he’s coming off the lopsided loss to Mayweather, it’s important for Guerrero to rebound against a serious contender.

Victor Ortiz—who also wants redemption against Floyd Mayweather—would also be an interesting matchup for Guerrero. Ortiz was interviewed before the Mayweather-Guerrero fight and said that he is not a fan of Guerrero’s.

A little animosity never hurts the pre-fight hype, and a battle between the two southpaws can definitely sell tickets on the west coast. Both men have fought exciting bouts with Berto, so perhaps the winner would be lined up for a rematch.

Berto has his own tough bout approaching versus Jesus Soto Karass, so it’ll be interesting to see how he looks after his loss to Guerrero.

Assuming Guerrero’s gun charges are “all taken care of” as he said to ESPN a few days ago, he should look at getting back into the ring before the end of the year. At 30 years old, Guerrero still has a lot of fight left in him and can definitely work his way back into title contention, as long as it’s not against Floyd Mayweather. 

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