by Keith Idec
Floyd Mayweather Sr. reacted angrily, but Floyd Mayweather Jr. remained completely calm after Ruben Guerrero’s verbal assault during their press conference Wednesday in Las Vegas.
Ruben Guerrero, Robert Guerrero’s father and trainer, took what has become an increasingly personal promotion to another level by calling the younger Mayweather “a woman-beater.” Mayweather didn’t acknowledge Ruben Guerrero’s comments when it was his turn to speak at MGM Grand’s Hollywood Theatre, three days in advance of their 12-round fight for Mayweather’s WBC welterweight title (Showtime Pay-Per-View; $69.99; 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT).
“My thing is I’m a lot older, I’m a lot wiser,” Mayweather, 36, told Showtime’s Steve Farhood. “You know, if I did do a crime, if I did or I didn’t do a crime, I served the time. And it’s about being classy. I was wild when I was young, but I’m a lot older now, a lot wiser. I know what I bring to the table, I know what I bring to the sport of boxing and I’ve been here 17 years now. The thing is to go out there, to continue to rack up victories and give the people excitement.”
Mayweather served two months in Clark County (Nev.) Detention Center last year after pleading guilty to misdemeanor battery charges. The undefeated five-division champion’s incarceration stemmed from a September 2010 incident involving Josie Harris, the mother of three of Mayweather’s four children. Two of their three children witnessed Mayweather’s attack on his former girlfriend.
His fight against Guerrero (31-1-1, 18 KOs, 2 NC) will mark Mayweather’s first action since he was released Aug. 3. Mayweather (43-0, 26 KOs) hasn’t fought since he out-pointed Miguel Cotto (37-4, 30 KOs) last May 5 in Las Vegas.
An emotional Ruben Guerrero, who has traded insults with Floyd Mayweather Sr. throughout this promotion, didn’t mince words regarding the younger Mayweather’s legal trouble Wednesday.
“We’re gonna beat up that woman beater, the one that beat up his wife, man, his wife in front of his kids,” Ruben Guerrero shouted from the dais. “You guys like that [stuff]? Like this guy, woman beater? He must’ve learned that from his dad. Woman beater. We’re going to beat that woman beater, see how he’s going to like it. He’s gonna get it from a real man. We’re gonna beat that woman beater down.”
Floyd Mayweather Sr. and Ruben Guerrero had to be separated once the press conference ended, but Mayweather Jr. dismissed Guerrero’s aggressive, over-the-top attempt to get in his head.
“The fighters have to fight,” Mayweather said. “My father can’t fight his father. It’s all about the fighters fighting. I try not to worry about that. I go out there and do what I’ve got to do, that’s keep my composure, box and listen to the game plan.”
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.