Guerrero, who had signed his name to an Aug. 27 bout on June 10
said Monday that his proposed fight with Marcos Maidana (30-2, 27
KOs) is now officially a go, setting the stage for a 12-round WBA
140-pound world title showdown in the heart of the Silicon
Valley.
It took about a week to finalize but the waiting is over.
Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero, in search of his sixth world title in a fourth weight class, climbing into the ring 30 minutes from where he grew up in an HBO main event – the fight card can’t get more loaded than that.
Guerrero, who had signed his name to an Aug. 27 bout on June 10 said Monday that his proposed fight with Marcos Maidana (30-2, 27 KOs) is now officially a go, setting the stage for a 12-round WBA 140-pound world title showdown in the heart of the Silicon Valley.
Guerrero first broadcast the news via Twitter, writing that the fight was a “done deal.”
“That week felt like a month,” Guerrero said in a phone interview Monday. “I was like, ‘what’s going on here? Does this guy want to fight?'”
Guerrero is used to the waiting. In his mind he has been stood up on a number of occasions and it seemed about time someone stepped up.
“(Amir) Khan didn’t want to fight me. (Juan Manuel) Marquez didn’t want to fight me,” Guerrero said.
Maidana, though, will take the challenge. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer told the Los Angeles Times on Monday that he had concluded all matters pertaining to the fight.
“It’s going to be a tremendous fight. (Maidana) is one of those fighters like (Michael) Katsidis where they keep coming. You can beat on them and beat on them but they keep coming,” Guerrero said. “It’s going to be an awesome fight. I can’t wait.”
Thoroughly dominating Katsidis on April 7 to obtain the interim WBO and WBA lightweight (135 pounds) world titles, Guerrero looked much larger in stature and overpowered the shorter Australian fighter in a unanimous decision victory.
The Ghost, who greatly benefited from his first full-fledged training camp in three years prior to facing Katsidis, will again move up in weight to a spot where most boxing pundits feel the southpaw can do the most damage.
“You know, 140 pounds is going to be awesome,” Guerrero said. “I’m going to be feeling good, very hydrated. Everything is going to be right.”
Guerrero said he is going to sit down with manager Bob Santos and trainer Ruben Guerrero to hash out the location of his pre-fight training facilities.
“Right now it’s up in the air,” Guerrero said. “I will be leaving but it’s up in the air as to where.”
A Guerrero-Maidana matchup figures to be another slugfest. Both fighters are not shy with what they throw leaving little time for much dancing in the ring.
“I’ve been wanting to have a world title fight for the fans in San Jose,” Guerrero said. ” With a guy like Maidana it’s always an action fight. I’m going to get out there and focus on what I have to do and give the fans what they deserve.”
