Three years ago at this time, Gilroy’s Robert Guerrero was ranked among The Ring magazine’s top 10 boxers in the world, pound-for-pound. He held a World Boxing Council title s and was on the verge of his crack at beating the pound-for-pound No. 1,
Floyd Mayweather.
The Ghost hasn’t held a title or been that highly regarded since. He lost to Mayweather in April 2013, and subsequently to budding superstar Keith Thurman, and he wasn’t all that dominant over the two opponents he did beat.
“I got a little bit derailed,” he concedes.
Yet Guerrero’s chance Saturday to regain the WBC welterweight title by upsetting unbeaten Danny Garcia (5 p.m.) Fox, Fox Deportes) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles seems promising.
“This throws me right back in,” Guerrero says. “There’s lot of hype behind Danny Garcia coming at 147 pounds. There’s a lot of big talk that he’s the next star in boxing that’s going to take over. Like he says himself, stars come to Hollywood.”
Garcia (31-0, 18 knockouts was WBA light-welterweight champion and was the premier 140-pounder before moving up last year to 147, with victories over Lucas Matthyssee, Zab Judah, Lamont Peterson and
Amir Khan.
On the other hand, Garcia is a more recent newcomer to the 147-pound division than Guerrero, 32, who arrived in 2011 after drifting up from 126, and he has looked beatable in recent fights, notably against then-unsung Maurcio Herrera.
Guerrero, whose career body of work lists victims such as Joel Casamayor, Andre Berto, and Michael Katsidis, may never get a chance like this again.
“I think this is a tremendous fight for me to get back on top and to get back in the ranks,” said The Ghost, “to show the doubters and the media and everybody out there that Guerrero’s got a lot left in him.”
He thinks his southpaw stance and greater appetite for an action fight will pose problems for Garcia. “The key is using those advantages and capitalizing on them. We’ve got to go out there and execute the game plan and make it happen.”
That will be dangerous. Garcia (who has predicted he’ll stop Guerrero in five rounds) is perceived to be the harder puncher, and Guerrero is not expecting a lightweight across the ring.
“I think he’s going to be a lot bigger than people expect,” Guerrero warned. “Coming up to 147 pounds, he’s feeling great. He’s feeling strong, he’s feeling bigger. He just walked through Paulie Malignaggi, and I know he’s expecting to walk through me. That just excites me, because I know he’s coming at his best and he’s feeling his strongest and he’s coming to fight.”
Most of Guerrero’s fights at welterweight have been grueling, sometimes even brutal. After suffering his first real knockdowns against Thurman and in his subsequent victory over Aron Martinez, he’s battling a perception that he’s somewhat the worse for wear.
“I always take good care of my body and I come out of these fights not really damaged too much,” Guerrero says. “I mean, I do a lot of damage in the ring to guys and don’t take a lot of it.”
Some would dispute that.
Still, an action fight represents Guerrero’s last best chance, and the notion he might win is far from incongruous.
So he’s still anticipating bigger and better thing in the long view.
“It’s about trying to make yourself a better fighter. To come back strong and finish out your career with a strong output. It’s about becoming a world champion again and also attracting that Hall of Fame.”
It’s all still possible.
