By: William Holmes

Official Weigh In Results:
Andre Berto 145 vs Floyd Mayweather 146
Orlando Salido 130lbs vs Roman Martinez 129.5lbs
Badou Jack 167.5lbs vs George Groves 168lbs
Jonathan Oquendo 129lbs vs Jhonny Gonzalez 129 lbs
Vanes Martirosyan 154.5 lbs. vs Ishe Smith at 154 lbs.

Saturday night will be the last time Floyd Mayweather Jr. applies his craft inside the ring as he will defend his WBC and WBA Welterweight titles against former world champion Andre Berto.

At least that’s what Mayweather is saying publically, and a win for Mayweather will see him tie Rocky Marciano’s mythical 49-0 record.

Unfortunately for Mayweather, a majority of the press has been talking more about Mayweather’s Therapeutic Use Exception for the use of an IV granted to him by USADA before his fight with Pacquiao than his chances at tying Rocky Marciano’s record, and that is not a good thing for The Money Team brand.

At least three bouts will be shown on the televised portion of the pay per view, and the undercard is stacked with talent signed to Mayweather Promotions.

The following is a preview of the televised portion of the Pay Per View card:

Badou Jack (19-1-1) vs. George Groves (21-2); WBC Super Middleweight Title

Badou Jack’s lone loss came in 2012 in a shocking first round TKO to Derek Edwards at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, New York. He has been able to bounce back from that loss with three straight victories, including a world title victory in his last bout against Anthony Dirrell in April of 2015.

George Groves’ suffered the first losses of his career to Carl Froch in back to back fights in 2013 and 2014, but he has since won two fights in a row and hopes to take Jack’s WBC Middleweight Title.

Jack will have a slight two inch height advantage and about an inch and a half reach advantage. They are similar in power, as Jack has stopped twelve of his opponents while Groves has stopped sixteen. Both men also have questionable chins. Their three losses combined have come by way of stoppage.

Both Groves and Jack has successful amateur careers, with Jack having competed in the 2008 Olympics and Groves holding a victory over Olympic Gold Medalist James DeGale.

Surprisingly, Groves has only fought outside of Europe as a professional twice. His notable victories include James DeGale, Paul Smith, Glen Johnson, and Denis Douglin.

Jack has kept himself busy the past three years, and fought six times in 2013 and three times in 2014. His biggest victories have come against Anthony Dirrell, Rogelio Medina, Marco Antonio Periban, and Farah Ennis.

At this point in their careers Groves has the better resume, but Jack is more talented and hasn’t suffered the devastating TKO losses that Groves has. It should be a close fight early on, but Jack should pull away in the middle to late rounds.

Roman Martinez (29-2-2) vs. Orlando Salido (42-13-2); WBO Junior Lightweight Title

This bout is a rematch from a twelve round war in April of 2015 which saw Salido go down twice and and lose a close decision to Martinez in Puerto Rico.

They have the same reach, but Martinez is about two inches taller. Martinez is only two years younger than Salido, but Salido has been in a large number of wars inside the ring and has been fighting as a professional since 1996, five years before Martinez made his professional debut.

They both have decent power. Salido has stopped twenty nine of his opponents, and two of his past five fights resulted in a stoppage victory. Martinez only has one stoppage victory in his past five fights and seventeen knockouts overall.

Salido is known for not always playing by the rules and doing whatever it takes to win. He was stripped of his IBF Featherweight title for a positive drug test against Robert Guerrero in 2006 and came in severely overweight and won a foul filled bout against Vasyl Lomachenko in 2014.

Martinez’s best victories have come against Orlando Salido, Diego Magdaleno, Miguel Beltran Jr., and Daniel Attah. His two losses were to Ricky Burns in the United Kingdom and to Mikey Garcia.

Salido has defeated the likes of Vasyl Lomachenko, Orlando Cruz, Juan Manuel Lopez, and Rogers Mtagwa. His losses were to the likes of Juan Manuel Marquez, Cristobal Cruz, Yuriorkis Gamboa, and Mikey Garcia.

Martinez should win on Saturday, but he won’t have the support of the crowd like he did when he fought Salido the first time in Puerto Rico.

This fight could be the fight of the night.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. (48-0) vs. Andre Berto (30-3); WBC/WBA Welterweight Title

Floyd Mayweather is certainly the best boxer of this generation, and this won’t be the first time he’s entering into a fight with controversy surrounding him.

Controversy has never effected his performance in the ring, and it likely won’t on Saturday.

Mayweather is a huge favorite on Saturday night, and for good reason. He’s an inch and a half taller than Berto, he will have about a three and a half inch reach advantage, and he’s better defensively and offensively.

Berto only has one edge on Mayweather, and that is age. Berto is six years Mayweather’s junior.

Mayweather also has the edge in amateur experience. He won the Bronze medal in the 1996 Olympics for the United States while Berto was eliminated in the first round of the 2004 Olympics for Haiti.

Berto has a higher knockout ratio than Mayweather. He has stopped twenty three of his opponents, but he only has two stoppages in his past five fights. Mayweather has stopped twenty six of his opponents, but only has one stoppage victory in his past seven fights.

Berto has gone 3-3 in his past six fights, and they include losses to Jesus Soto Karass, Robert Guerrero, and Victor Ortiz. Two of those three losses were to men Mayweather beat, easily. Berto has defeated the likes of Josesito Lopez, even though he was behind on the cards at the time of the stoppage, Jan Zaveck, Freddy Hernandez, Carlos Quintana, Juan Urango, and Luis Collazo.

Mayweather has defeated everyone he has ever faced, including Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel marquez, Marcos Maidana, Canelo Alvarez, Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, Oscar De La Hoya, and Ricky Hatton.

You’ll be hard pressed to find someone who thinks Berto will win on Saturday, and you won’t find it in this preview.

It’ll be shocking if Mayweather loses even one round.

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