LAS VEGAS ? After 17 years in the sport, the last decade spent atop the mythical pound-for-pound list, Floyd Mayweather Jr. should have reached the crossroads by now.
Only a handful of the boxers who were with him on the 1996 U.S. Olympic boxing team remain active. Most have retired and moved on to other phases of their lives. Mayweather, who won a bronze medal in the Atlanta Games, is 36 years old and still going strong.
Mayweather?s nemesis, Manny Pacquiao, who was KO?d by Juan Manuel Marquez in December, is quickly fading, contemplating a future in politics. Mayweather is boxing?s chief ambassador and shows no signs of slowing down.
In February he signed a new, six-fight, multimillion- dollar deal with Showtime, leaping from HBO, where he built his lucrative Money Mayweather brand. Reports are the deal could be worth more than $200 million, considering the guarantees and incentives for each fight during the 30-month term.
In the first match under the deal, Mayweather, after a 12-month layoff, will take on Robert Guerrero in a 12-round welterweight title bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday night on Showtime Pay Per View.
For Mayweather (43-0, 26 KOs), this is about continued dominance in the sport. For Guerrero, a 7-1 underdog, it?s an opportunity to make history by being the first to defeat Mayweather.
?You just don?t get to the pinnacle by not facing and fighting the best competition,? Mayweather said. ?I beat everybody in the ?90s and I beat everybody early on in the 2000s. Now here we go 17 years later.?
Showtime and CBS, the parent company of the cable network, have pulled out all the stops in marketing and promoting the match, doing all-access programs and producing a special documentary on Mayweather that aired on CBS in prime time last Saturday night. Mayweather likens parting with HBO to getting a divorce and partnering with Showtime to a new marriage. It will remain a happy marriage as long as Mayweather is winning.
Mayweather was part of the largest grossing boxing pay-per-view event in history when he fought Oscar De La Hoya in 2007. The match did 2.4 million buys and grossed $120 million. It remains to be seen if there are any opponents in Mayweather?s future who could generate those kinds of numbers.
Isaac Brekken /AP Mayweather remains a champion in boxing since he burst onto the scene at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
Guerrero (31-1, 18 KOs), a little-known boxer from Gilroy, Calif. (the Garlic Capital of America), who jumped from lightweight to welterweight last year, isn?t that guy. But Guerrero thinks he?s the man who will put the first blemish on Mayweather?s record. He believes the new contract and the obligation to carry the sport are weighing heavily on Mayweather.
?When I look at it, the pressure is on him to stay undefeated to keep his legacy going,? Guerrero said. ?He has these 30 months left and he?s signed this big contract. You got a lot of stuff to fulfill. The pressure is not on me. I?ve dealt with losses before and come back.?
