Floyd Mayweather (44-0, 26 KOs) returned to the ring, winning a unanimous, one-sided decision over a game but outclassed Robert Guerrero (31-2-1, 18 KOs).
It had been a year since Mayweather had been under the kleig lights and it took him a couple of stanzas to shake off the ring rust. But once he found his groove, the multi-division champion put on a bravura boxing clinic. By the end of the night, no one could have any doubts that the pugilist from Grand Rapids, Mich. is the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet.
In the first two frames, the southpaw Guerrero enjoyed some success with his straight left hand, but as always Mayweather calmly figured out his foe as though he were solving a crossword puzzle.
Mayweather is the best counter puncher of his era and every time Guerrero missed with a shot, Mayweather would make him pay with a whipping right hand that by mid-fight sliced open Guerrero's left eye.
Mayweather landed 41% of his punches and a remarkable 60% of his power shots. The crowd of almost 16,000 was solidly in Mayweather's corner. Nevertheless, boos rained during the 12th round when Mayweather failed to press the action and go for the knockout that, from the 8th round on, seemed imminent.
Mayweather who was guaranteed $32 million for the night, explained, "I just wanted to go out there and to box smart, and if the knockout came, it would come. But I hurt my right hand midway through the fight. I was really looking for the knockout but after I hurt my hand, I really couldn't do it. My defense was sharp."
Going into the fight, Guerrero had only one loss. After being pummeled and out-boxed, the bloodied challenger conceded, "Floyd is a great fighter. Faster than I thought."
Indeed, Guerrero's ring moniker is "The Ghost" but it was Mayweather, one of the best defensive fighters of his era, who was the wraith. Guerrero landed a mere 81 of his power punches and was never able to hurt Mayweather.
After the decision was announced (all three judges had it 117-111), Mayweather graciously praised his opponent but refrained from speculating about the future, "I got the work that I needed and I felt comfortable tonight in the ring. I'm not even thinking about [who I will fight next.] I'm just going to go home. It was a good, tough battle."
However, Richard Schafer, the chief executive of Golden Boy, co-promoters for this event, was less restrained. "We will," he said, "be back here at the MGM Grand on Sept. 14, hopefully for a fight between Mayweather and super welterweight champion Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez."