Californian fan favourite Robert Guerrero returned to the ring last night (July 28th) for the first time ever at welterweight. He was actually moving up two-weight divisions going into the fight leading many people to believe that this could potentially be a risk that is not worth taking. The 29-year old may have been out of the ring for over a year and may have been moving up to a weight limit that was around 14lb heavier than what he was used to fighting at but he was jumping straight into the deep end and facing a very tough boxer. That's right... He wasn't taking the easy option. He had Selcuk Aydin in front of him. A hard-punching, strong and natural welterweight.
The first thing that most people noticed when the fight started was how big Guerrero looked. He was bigger than Guerrero and didn't look like a man that had moved up two weight divisions.
Guerrero started very well and dominated the first few rounds. But it was easy to see that if Aydin landed his right hand at any point, the momentum of the fight would change... And that's exactly what happened. Guerrero started to allow Aydin to get into range and the Turk started to power forward and land some solid shots. Around the mid-way stage of the fight, Guerrero looked very tired and Aydin looked stronger than ever. But, just a few rounds later, the momentum switched once again and Guerrero went back to his boxing; working well off of the jab and keeping Aydin at range. The same pattern followed up until the last round. Both fighters finished very energetically in what was probably the best round of the fight. Guerrero was announced as the winner on all three judges scorecards (117-111, 116-112, 116-112).
After the fight, Guerrero was very upbeat and happy with his performance. He also took the opportunity to call-out the pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather.
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| Shawn Porter. |
"You want this belt? Come and get it!" were the words that came from the Californian's mouth. Now don't get me wrong, this was a very good performance from Guerrero but he is nowhere near ready for Mayweather. However, it is a fight that realistically looks like it could happen. There's nobody else for Mayweather to fight and Guerrero is a southpaw, so if a fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao does happen, this would be a good warm-up fight for Mayweather.
On the undercard, Shawn Porter defeated Alfonso Gomez in one of the most exciting fights of the year. Porter was very impressive and looked like he had improved massively from his last fight in April. The undefeated American took advantage of Gomez's weaknesses and took the opportunity to prove the world that he is a fighter that is destined for big things. His record now reads 20-0, 14 KO's.
