With 50 delegates up for grabs in the January 31 Florida Republican Primary, presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is upping the ante on his attacks against his strongest opponent, Newt Gingrich.

It was just a few weeks ago, with as many as seven candidates competing for the Republican presidential nomination that the 2012 primary seemed more like a heated horse race with frontrunners constantly neck and neck. Now the race has dwindled down to a one-on-one boxing match as Gingrich and Romney exchange verbal blows.

Last Saturday, Gingrich soundly defeated Romney in the South Carolina primary, where just days before polls showed Romney with a large lead. Gingrich won with 41 percent of the votes to Romney's 27 percent. Rick Santorum received 17 percent and Ron Paul 13 percent.

The South Carolina victory has given Gingrich tremendous momentum for Florida. The latest Florida polls show him erasing Romney's substantial 18 percent lead. Gingrich now leads in Florida with an average of seven percent.

Gingrich's sudden surge in the primaries is largely thanks to his blistering campaign attacks against Romney, which portray him as a moderate and a capitalist who profited from laying off workers while head of Bain Capital. Gingrich also criticized Romney for approving a healthcare law in Massachusetts similar to the controversial Affordable Healthcare Act while governor of that state.

In a nationally televised Republican debate from the University of South Florida, Tampa, on Monday night, Romney took the fight to Gingrich, accusing him of being a paid lobbyist for government-backed mortgage giant, Freddie Mac, which Republicans claim played a key role in the housing collapse.

Repeatedly, Romney referred to Gingrich as an "influence peddler" for Freddie Mac. Gingrich appeared floored by Romney's uncharacteristic attack. He weakly denied being a lobbyist, trying to compare his fee of some $1.6 million to the millions Romney made as head of Bain Capital.

Throughout Monday's debate Gingrich avoided aggression against Romney and other rivals, Santorum and Paul. By remaining above the fray, Gingrich gave the impression of being the undisputed frontrunner of the race.

On Tuesday morning, Romney made public his 2010 tax returns, which quells some of the criticism against him for not disclosing this document. The return did not reveal anything controversial, with over $46 million earned in investments in 2010 and a 14 percent rate on taxes.

Although Romney is not considered a conservative Republican such as Gingrich or Rick Santorum, he remains the preferred candidate by party stalwarts for the Republican presidential nomination. Just days ago Romney seemed destined to win the nomination. Now Gingrich has grasped the momentum. Should he win Florida, it is likely the campaign could become a two candidate race (with Paul and Santorum predicted to drop out soon), of indefinite duration, similar to the 2008 Democratic primary between Obama and Hillary Clinton.

With three primaries completed, Gingrich leads in the delegate count with 35. Romney has 33, Rick Santorum 14, and Ron Paul none. It takes 1,144 delegates to secure the Republican nomination. The winner of Florida's primary will gain all the state's 50 delegates.