Not even the presence of his younger brother Robert ‘The Ghost’
Guerrero, a top contender and undefeated pugilist in the
featherweight division, at ringside as well as his father, Ruben,
and uncle, Russ, in his corner could give Victor Guerrero the edge
over San Jose’s unbeaten boxer Arturo Quintero.
SAN JOSE – Not even the presence of his younger brother Robert ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero, a top contender and undefeated pugilist in the featherweight division, at ringside as well as his father, Ruben, and uncle, Russ, in his corner could give Victor Guerrero the edge over San Jose’s unbeaten boxer Arturo Quintero.
In his return bout after a near three-year absence from boxing, Guerrero’s timing was not quite there as he braved it out for almost three rounds before getting knocked out by the deadly Quintero.
But the second fight on Thursday’s Miller Lite Fight Night At The Tank card was far from one-sided as Guerrero first connected with a powerful right that seemed to stun Quintero. When Guerrero stepped in to try to finish him off, he got caught with a vicious retaliatory combination from Quintero that put him down on the canvas.
“I was (coming in to finish him), but I missed a couple of shots,” said Guerrero, who courageously picked himself back up and squared off with Quintero again in the third round.
Quintero (8-0, 5 KO’s) then demonstrated what his plentiful ring-time results in as he quickly finished off Guerrero – who took another lethal combination to the head before dropping for a second and final time with 1:34 remaining in the third round.
“He had him hurt already, but he’s been out for three years and he fought an undefeated fighter. That guy’s been fighting for a while already. The timing wasn’t there,” Ruben Guerrero said. “He’s just got to learn how to finish. What Victor does is he just throws one big punch. He needs to bam, bam, bam [demonstrating a finishing combination], but he threw one big punch and then he let him get away.”
Guerrero, 25, of Gilroy, connected with a one big right – but when he went in for the kill, he put his hands down and Quintero made him pay dearly.
“To me, I think it was a lucky shot that he came back. A lot of it has to do with him being ring rusted,” Russ Guerrero said. “Like my brother said you’ve got to finish off after that big right hand. You’ve got to finish up and come back with some combinations.”
Quintero did not give Guerrero the chance – almost immediately regaining his composure and connecting cleanly to the Gilroyan’s skull.
“Once you get him hurt, you’ve got to take him out. That’s the bottom line. It goes back again to ring rust,” Russ Guerrero said. “Part of it is trying to get back into the game. Maybe this will make him a better fighter. We’ll be back.”
Obviously distraught with the outcome, Victor Guerrero – when asked if he would have done anything differently – responded, “I would have trained harder.”
GHOST UPDATE: Undefeated featherweight Robert ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero – who sported a slick suit and was announced in the ring before his older brother’s fight – is scheduled to fight again October 4 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas as an undercard to the Evander Holyfield-James Toney cruiserweight championship bout. ‘The Ghost’ has been training down in Los Angeles with the renowned Goossen Camp and is hoping to get a title shot in the near future.
