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| Date | May 4, 2013 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBC and vacant The Ring welterweight titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mayweather Jr. wins via 12-round unanimous decision (117-111, 117-111, 117-111) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Robert Guerrero , billed as May Day, was a professional boxing match contested on May 4, 2013, for the WBC and vacant The Ring welterweight championship. [1] [2]
Since moving up to Light middleweight to successfully challenge Miguel Cotto in May 2012, Floyd Mayweather Jr. had spent two months in jail for domestic abuse. Since his release in August, he spend the rest of the year inactive. [3] [4]
In the meantime Robert Guerrero had defeated Selçuk Aydın to become the WBC's "interim" welterweight champion in July 2012, [5] and in November he defended it by winning a unanimous decision over Andre Berto. In the aftermath he called out Mayweather saying, "Pretty Boy, let's do it." [6] [7]
In February it was announced that Mayweather would make the first defence of his welterweight title against Guerrero in May, 19 months after he won the title from Victor Ortiz. [8]
The bout was held on May 4, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on Showtime PPV. The bout was the first major televised fight of Mayweather's career to not be aired on HBO PPV. The card featured some of the rising stars of Mayweather Promotions: J'Leon Love, Badou Jack, Luis Arias, Ronald Gavril and Lanell Bellows. [9]
At Mayweather's insistent a rematch clause was included in the contract. [10]
The first couple rounds were fairly even, with Mayweather attempting to counter and time Guerrero, while Guerrero was attempting to drive Mayweather to the ropes and make it a rough fight. After the first couple rounds, Mayweather was in complete control, almost hitting Guerrero at will with right hand leads, counters, hooks, and effectively timing Guerrero the rest of the fight.
At the end of 12 rounds, Mayweather won the fight on all three scorecards 117–111. [11]
Mayweather's assistant trainer (his father) advised him onto a very defensive strategy, saying that "the less you get hit, the longer you last". This style of fighting elicited boos from the crowd especially during the 11th and 12th round when Floyd may have believed he had the score "locked up" already and didn't need to win any more rounds, saying that "When you're up on the cards, box smart." [12] [13] [14] [15]
Throughout the fight, Mayweather landed 195 punches to 113 for Guerrero. [16]
Floyd Mayweather equalled his own all time base purse record with a guaranteed $32 million. [17] Robert Guerrero was guaranteed $3 million. [18]
Confirmed bouts: [19]
| Weight Class | Result | Round | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welterweight |  Floyd Mayweather Jr. | def. | Robert Guerrero | Unanimous Decision | 12 | 3:00 | Championship bout. |
| Featherweight |  Abner Mares | def. | Daniel Ponce de León | TKO | 9 | 2:20 | Championship bout. |
| Super Bantamweight | Léo Santa Cruz | def. |  Alexander Muñoz | TKO | 5 | 1:05 | |
| Middleweight | J'Leon Love | vs. | Gabriel Rosado | No Contest | 10 | 3:00 | |
| Super Middleweight |  Ronald Gavril | def. | Roberto Yong | TKO | 3 | 2:12 | |
| Super Middleweight | Lanell Bellows | def. | Matt Garretson | TKO | 4 | 0:32 | |
| Super Middleweight | Luis Arias | def. | DonYil Livingston | Majority Decision | 6 | 3:00 | |
| Light Heavyweight |  Badou Jack | def. |  Michael Gbenga | TKO | 3 | 2:26 | |
† The GMA News TV version cancelled due to low ratings of Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Robert Guerrero, billed as May Day
†† AKTV on IBC coverage have stopped airing due to high blocktime costs of Mayweather-Guerrero fight during primetime telecast. The last AKTV sports block before its shut down on May 31, 2013.
