Robert Guerrero says fate’s in his corner vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Robert Guerrero leaned on his faith through a drawn-out wait before unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. tapped him as his next opponent, May 4 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“I just always believed that it was meant to be and that I’d be rewarded for what I have done,” Guerrero told The Times on Friday in a telephone conversation.
Mayweather (43-0, 26 knockouts) announced this week that he would make the 29-year-old southpaw Guerrero (31-1-1, 18 KOs) his first foe in beginning a new television deal with pay-per-view provider Showtime and its parent network.
Mayweather, who’ll turn 36 this weekend, told ESPN on Friday that he believes since he’s avoided much physical damage through the years by fighting a defensive-minded, fast-punching style, he is capable of fulfilling the maximum obligation of the deal — six fights in 30 months.
“I’m glad he thinks that, congratulations to him for getting that deal, but I think it’s also interesting that he wanted a rematch clause for this — something I don’t think he’s ever done,” Guerrero said.
Guerrero said matching Mayweather with a “fast southpaw who has power in both of his hands” could spawn an upset.
In November, Guerrero earned the Mayweather title shot by defeating the naturally bigger former world welterweight champion Andre Berto by decision in Ontario, knocking Berto down in each of the first two rounds.
Beyond that, Guerrero believes there’s something more powerful at play — forces that will again reward him.
Guerrero put aside his fighting career for more than a year to care for his wife, Casey, as she battled and beat leukemia. Guerrero is now a national spokesman for the bone-marrow match organization “Be the Match.”
That image conflicts with Mayweather’s domestic-violence case, in which he was sent to a Las Vegas jail last year for abusing the mother of his three children.
“I think I’m here to humble Floyd Mayweather,” Guerrero said. “A lot of people, maybe Floyd himself, think of him as the god of boxing. There’s only one God, and he’s been very good to me.”
ALSO:
Floyd Mayweather Jr. to fight Robert Guerrero on May 4
Ronda Rousey’s maverick ways lead to landmark UFC bout
Manny Pacquiao, after the near-perfect punch that laid him out
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