Robert
”
The Ghost
”
Guerrero is going to have a chance to re-connect with the Gilroy
athletic community, and he’s excited about it.
Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero is going to have a chance to re-connect with the Gilroy athletic community, and he’s excited about it.
The first step is Friday when Guerrero, the two-time International Boxing Federation featherweight champion, appears at Harvest Time Restaurant from 6 to 9pm at a fund-raiser for the Gilroy High School Memorial Parade shirts.
It will be a night to fete Guerrero and the Gilroy High championship teams, all of who will be invited to march May 28 in the Memorial Day Parade wearing championships shirts.
For $20, those in attendance will get a buffet dinner and have the first chance to view Guerrero’s IBF title fight Feb. 24 in Copenhagen, Denmark, against Spend Abazi. By now, all Gilroyans who haven’t been in a cave for the last two months know that Guerrero captured the title when Abazi couldn’t answer the bell for the ninth round.
“It was brutal,” Guerrero said of the fight and circumstances leading up to it. “I had to fight a championship fight with my back against the wall. I was basically fighting that guy and all of Denmark.
“I had to adjust my workouts to their times, and to prepare to fight at a different time. We didn’t even know what time we were going to fight. It was one of those experiences I’ll never forget. It also taught me a lot about myself, what I’m capable of doing.”
Guerrero will share those experiences. He says he has watched the fight four times, and still can’t believe what he overcame to get back the belt he relinquished in September to Orlando Salido. Salido later tested positive for steroids and was stripped of the championship, and Guerrero had to fight out of the country for the first time to re-claim the title.
Guerrero’s next fight will be this summer, likely on a card that includes welterweights Paul Williams and Antonio Margarita. No date has been set.
He will also share what it was like when he was a relative unknown during his high school days, beginning his quest to climb the ladder as a world class fighter. He will tell those in attendance how he had to go outside of the area to gain recognition for his skills, and the hard work and dedication it takes to succeed in an individual sport like boxing. And yet, he will share center stage with other champions in the community.
“They’re doing it for all the champions in Gilroy,” Guerrero said. “It’s cool to have something to recognize the great athletes around here. The wrestling team is good every year. The soccer teams had a great season.”
Guerrero will pay tribute to those athletes “that play with passion and love what they are doing. I know how they feel getting to that level and winning championships. It’s a feeling that is hard to describe. You have to experience it to know how it feels.”
“I am excited about getting a chance to meet all the champions in Gilroy. Winning a championship is hard, one of the hardest things in any sport. It’s nice to be congratulated.”
It’s nice to be congratulated by a world champion, and Guerrero will be available to recount his experiences as well as sign autographs and pose for pictures.
