No More Rehearsals: Mayweather-Guerrero fight to say it all

LAS VEGAS – It was a weigh-in noteworthy for what didn’t happen. Ruben Guerrero behaved himself. Sort of.

Expectations for a brawl before opening bell weren’t fulfilled Friday in a pre-fight ritual that went off almost as if it had been rehearsed. Robert Guerrero was at 147 pounds, the welterweight limit, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. was one pound under at 146 for a bout on Showtime’s pay-per-view television Saturday night at the MGM Grand.

Escalating trash talk had set the stage for one of those confrontations that often send weigh-ins spinning into some unregulated violence. Ruben Guerrero, Robert’s dad and trainer, fueled much of it with insults that went viral Wednesday when he repeatedly mocked Mayweather and his jail sentence last summer for domestic abuse.

If the insults bothered Mayweather, however, there were no signs of it when he took his turn on the scale. He smiled at a noisy crowd of a few thousand fans. He blew kisses at them as he walked onto the stage. Mayweather has been CEO cool and calm, almost eerily so, throughout the buildup for his first bout since his last fight, a victory over Miguel Cotto a year ago.

There’s been a lot of amateur psychology floating around, suggesting that Mayweather (43-0, 26 KOs) is a different person. Even his dad and lead trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr., has said jail changed his son. Maybe.

In the pre-fight proceedings for Guerrero (31-1-1, 18 KOs), he’s been more careful with what he says and how he says it. If anything, he relinquished his trash-talk title to Guerrero’s dad, Ruben, who was watched by vigilant Golden Boy Promotion officials throughout the weigh-in. They didn’t want an ugly incident.

The stare-down after both stepped off the scale lasted about a minute. It ended when Golden Boy matchmaker Eric Gomez pulled Guerrero away. In bit of a surprise, Robert appeared to be more animated than anybody, even his dad. He was asked about what he was thinking while looking into Mayweather’s unblinking eyes.

“Thinking about getting down, that’s what I was thinking about,’’ Guerrero said with an edge of excitement in his tone. “Got to beat him down. Got to take full advantage of it.’’

There’s been speculation that Guerrero might get overwhelmed in his first experience on boxing’s biggest and richest stage. According to contracts filed with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Mayweather is guaranteed $32 million for his first fight under a Showtime deal worth a potential $250 million if he fights six times over the next 30 months. Guerrero will get $3 million.

Maybe, that helps explain his father’s antics. Dad has been diverting some of the attention and subsequent pressure onto himself and away from his son. Maybe.

Both fighters enter the ring with their own back stories. Guerrero has his wife, Casey, and his role in her fight against leukemia. He also has his faith, an element that stands in contrast to Mayweather’s flamboyant lifestyle, summed up by his nickname, Money. Yet, controversy also is part of Guerrero’s tale of the tape. He’s facing gun possession charges in New York, for allegedly trying to bring a weapon onto a flight in checked baggage.

Mayweather’s crazy family is never from his story. His dad, often estranged, is back in his son’s corner. As of late Monday, it still had not been determined whether Roger Mayweather, his uncle, would work the corner with Floyd Sr. Roger has diabetes. Floyd Jr. said at times it affects his uncle’s vision. The only certainty Friday was that Floyd Sr., would run the corner. A reunion between father and dad has been an element to the Mayweather story for Guerrero. It’s as if Floyd Jr. is using the bout as way to repair a dysfunctional relationship.

At opening bell, however, there will be only Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Robert Guerrero.

“He’s flat-footed,’’ said Mayweather, who also has called Guerrero a hypocrite for talking about his faith. “He fights like a grappler.’’

In Mayweather, however, Guerrero sees a 36-year-old fighter who appeared to have lost his foot speed in a bruising victory over Cotto. Mayweather likes to say that there’s no blueprint on how to beat him. Nobody has. But Guerrero, a left-hander, doesn’t believe it. He has spent a career humbling his skeptics and his faith tells him he can do it again.

“Not just to humble Floyd, but to humble the boxing world,’’ Guerrero said. “You get a lot of people out there that think Floyd’s like a god, the way he acts, the way he lives, the way he spends money, the way he boasts about stuff. You get everybody thinking that he’s unstoppable, that nobody could beat him. That with Floyd, there’s no blueprint to beat him. You can’t break him down. But you know what? Being a big believer in God, there’s a blueprint for everybody.”