CARSON—For the second straight fight, Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero found himself on the floor of the ring. And just like before, he got back up and continued to fight.
Guerrero’s tenacity paid off as he defeated Aron Martinez by split decision (97-92, 95-94, 94-95) in a 10-round Premier Boxing Champions main event welterweight bout Saturday at the StubHub Center in Carson.
“We got the victory and now it’s time to move on to some big fights and give the fans the warrior-type fights they deserve,” Guerrero said after the fight. “I’m an action fighter and I’ll continue to be so.”
Not everyone agreed with the decision, however. Half the crowd booed as Guerrero was announced the winner. Martinez seemed to agree, remarking he thought the scores should’ve been in his favor.
“I’m very happy with my performance. I thought I won the fight…I thought the third scorecard was way out of line,” Martinez said in reference to the 97-92 card.
Martinez dominated the early rounds by trapping Guerrero in the corner and landing big shots on his head and body. But that was just a precursor of things to come.
In Round 4, the Los Angeles boxer had Guerrero against the ropes and hit him with a hard cross. The blow made Guerrero drop to his knees, notching a knockdown for Martinez.
It did little to deter Guerrero however; in fact, it had the opposite effect. The knockdown seemed to energize the Gilroy-boxer as he began unloading combination blows on Martinez.
“When I got up off the canvas, I told myself… ‘get up and win this fight’,” Guerrero said.
”Once I started boxing, I felt I started dominating the fight.”
From Round 5 on, Guerrero put his foot on the gas and didn’t let off. He took control of the fight and steered it clear of the ropes. He dictated the distance in the center of the ring and outlanded Martinez in the back-and-forth battle.
The victory gives Guerrero a 33-3-1 overall record.
Earlier in the day, heavyweight Dominic Breazeale maintained his undefeated record with a third round-KO victory over Yasmany Consuergra.
