Guerrero, Mayweather elders trade barbs ahead of sons’ showdown

It’s rare to see the trainer of a main event fighter missing from the dais at a major news conference to promote the event.

But Wednesday, Floyd Mayweather Sr. was not alongside his son, Floyd Jr., who will defend his WBC welterweight title Saturday against Robert Guerrero at the MGM Grand Garden on Showtime Pay Per View. The elder Mayweather was relegated to the audience as Guerrero’s father and trainer, Ruben, sat next to him onstage at the MGM’s Hollywood Theater.

It didn’t take long to realize why Floyd Mayweather Sr. wasn’t sitting alongside his son. As soon as Ruben Guerrero was handed the microphone, he launched a verbal assault on Mayweather Jr.

“We’re gonna beat that woman-beater,” he said, looking at Mayweather Jr. and referencing the 2010 domestic battery incident with then-girlfriend Josie Harris that ultimately landed the fighter in jail for 60 days last summer. “I am what I am. I’m the real deal. I don’t need to talk (expletive).”

Floyd Mayweather Sr. was not close enough to take a swipe at Ruben Guerrero, but he was close enough to hear what was being said. He jumped out of his seat, yelling back at the elder Guerrero.

Eventually, order temporarily was restored. The younger Mayweather was low-key during his remarks, not responding to Ruben Guerrero’s taunts. But when the two fighters posed for photographers, the fathers made eye contact, and the yapping resumed.

This time, the 60-year-old Mayweather Sr. wasn’t settling for words. He showed spryness in his legs and quickly ascended the stage where the 54-year-old Guerrero was waiting and more than willing to escalate matters.

The two quickly were separated.

“(Expletive) him,” Mayweather Sr. said of Ruben Guerrero. “I’ll knock him out right now, that punk-ass (expletive) bastard.”

The two have been at each other’s throats since the promotion began in early March and Ruben Guerrero claimed that Floyd Mayweather Sr. disparaged him and his son. So the elder Guerrero had no problem taking a cheap shot at the younger Mayweather (43-0, 26 knockouts).

“I don’t take that (expletive) from anybody,” Ruben Guerrero said. “You have something to say? Be a man and say it to my face. He says a lot of (expletive) when those ‘All Access’ cameras are rolling. Well, I’m right here, right now. Say what you got to say to me.”

Roger Mayweather, the younger brother of Floyd Sr. who has trained Floyd Jr. since 2000, wasn’t invited to the stage, either. But Roger Mayweather did not take part in the verbal jousting, sitting away from his brother and a safe distance from the stage.

And while Ruben Guerrero has nothing but disdain for Floyd Sr., he said he has nothing but love for Roger Mayweather.

“I have all the respect in the world for Roger,” Guerrero said. “He is a great trainer. He’s No. 1. He doesn’t need his brother around (expletive) things up for him.”

As news conferences go, Wednesday’s had been about as exciting as reading to a kindergarten class in the local library. Then Ruben Guerrero made his way to the podium, and suddenly the library had turned into a Lenny Bruce-Buddy Hackett-Andrew Dice Clay stand-up routine in a nightclub.

And, yes, Mayweather Sr. wanted to be onstage and a part of the act. He said he wasn’t invited and didn’t explain why. But given what happened between the two fathers, it was clear why Golden Boy Promotions and Team Mayweather kept them separated.

“Maybe they can fight each other in the parking lot and sell tickets and raise some money for cancer,” said Robert Guerrero (31-1-1, 18 KOs).

The two probably will cross paths at Friday’s weigh-in. It’s a lock they’ll be reminded that the last time there was a fracas at a weigh-in, it cost Bernard Hopkins $200,000 for taking a poke at Winky Wright before their July 21, 2007, fight at Mandalay Bay.

Ruben Guerrero said he’s not going to be writing the Nevada Athletic Commission any checks.

“I’ll be fine,” he said. “I’m just going to stay focused on winning this fight.”

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.