Gilroy
– Robert
”
The Ghost
”
Guerrero has never had a problem getting up for fights. But if
he ever needs that extra motivation to go the distance, he’s got
it.
Her name is Savannah Rose Guerrero.
Guerrero and his wife Casey welcomed their first child into the
world on March 13.
Gilroy – Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero has never had a problem getting up for fights. But if he ever needs that extra motivation to go the distance, he’s got it.
Her name is Savannah Rose Guerrero.
Guerrero and his wife Casey welcomed their first child into the world on March 13. When the Gilroy native enters the ring to defend his North American Boxing Federation belt tonight against Mexico’s Adrian Valdez, Guerrero says he’ll be fighting for something a little more precious than more personal glory.
“Now it’s not just about RG,” Guerrero said in an interview with the Dispatch last week. “It’s about my wife Casey, and Savannah Rose.
“I just thank God that He blessed me with a healthy child.”
Tonight’s title defense will be Guerrero’s first as the NABF’s featherweight champion after beating Cesar Figueroa for the belt last Dec. 9 on a fourth-round knockout.
He’s not planning on many more defenses of this particular title.
It’s not that Guerrero (14-0-1) is looking past Adrian Valdez (16-3-3), his opponent in the main event at tonight’s fight card at the Palace Casino in Lemoore … well, not much anyway. But the Gilroy native has bigger plans this year – plans that involve sanctioning bodies with three letters, like WBC, WBA and IBF, rather than four.
Guerrero has set his sights on a major title fight within the calendar year – he’s said he’d like it to happen at San Jose’s HP Pavilion – and few within or without his camp have doubts that it could happen.
“Hopefully, he’ll defend his (NABF) title three or four times,” said Ed Pearson, executive secretary of the sanctioning body, sounding a bit like someone who knows he has lightning in a bottle but won’t have it for long.
“(Guerrero’s) already rated No. 6 by the WBC, we know he’s going places,” Pearson said. “He’s talking about challenging for the WBC title this year.”
As for tonight’s opponent, the only apparent potential threat to Guerrero is Valdez’s lefthanded stance, always risky for a boxer – even another southpaw like the Ghost.
“Valdez is a tough guy,” said Guerrero. “He’s another southpaw, 5-8 is pretty big for a featherweight. This is gonna be his biggest fight of his career. He’s coming hungry, it’s for NABF title.
“But I feel strong. I’ve been out here with (trainer) John Bray a couple more months, getting more comfortable with him, he’s doing the job with me, honing my skills. He’s really getting the job done.”
Valdez lost a controversial decision to Bernard Dunn (13-0-0) last August but came back with knockouts of former world champion Cesar Soto (54-13-3) and Hector Marquez (28-12) to wind up a respectable 2004.
Valdez, who also goes by the nickname “Gallero”, had some tough talk for Guerrero in a recent interview.
“I don’t believe in ghosts,” the Juarez, Mexico product told ShoBox. “Robert Guerrero is a great fighter but he’s just like me – flesh and blood. And on April 1, his flesh will be mostly bloody.”
The Ghost answered back when asked about the trash talk.
“He could talk all he wants,” Guerrero said. “I can do all my talking in the ring. It doesn’t bother me if a guy talks a lot of smack about me. It’s a sign of weakness. It doesn’t intimidate me, come fight night. I’m going to be ready.”
Guerrero has long been a deeply religious man – “I’m a big believer in Jesus Christ, that guides me with everything I go through, not just boxing,” he says – using his faith as motivation to be the best boxer he can be.
His daughter, he believes, is just more proof that the path of faith is the only one worth taking.
That path leads through Adrian Valdez tonight, and if past Ghost stories are any indication, Valdez is going to end up on the wrong end of the punchline.
LIVE
Robert Guerrero (14-0-1)
vs. Adrian Valdez (16-3-3)
Palace Indian Gaming Center
Lemoore, 8pm (TV bout)
Tickets: 866-4-PALACE
ON TELEVISION
ShoBox, channel 600
11pm (tape delayed)
‘No Fooling’
at the Palace
A 12-round bout for the NABF featherweight championship at the Palace Gaming Center in Lemoore:
Robert Guerrero
(IBF No. 10/WBO No. 11/WBC No. 6 featherweight contender)
vs.
Adrian
Valdez
(Former Mexican super bantamweight champion)
Undercard: Malcolm Tann vs. Leroy Childs (heavyweights)
Robert Guerrero
World Rank: 32
Age: 21
Height: 5-10
Reach: 72″
Stance: Southpaw
Record: 14-0-1 (7 KO’s)
Hometown: Gilroy
Trainer: John Bray
Manager: Shelly Finkel
Adrian Valdez
World Rank: 39
Age: 24
Height: 5-8
Reach: 67″
Stance: Southpaw
Record: 16-3-3 (9 KO’s)
Hometown: Ciudad Juarez, CH, Mexico
Trainer: Felipe De La Torre
Manager: Osvaldo Kuchle
