Gilroy welterweight Robert Guerrero admitted Wednesday that there has been a large defect in his past couple of training camps. He said he wasn’t sparring enough and that his sparring partners were inadequate. Perhaps that explains why he wasn’t sharp in his all-too-narrow victory over Aron Martinez last June.
That had to change if Guerrero (33-3, 18 knockouts) is to defeat unbeaten and favored Danny Garcia in their 12-round welterweight bout Jan. 23 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and airing on Fox and Fox Deportes. As a result, Team Guerrero is praising Raymond Serrano and other sparring partners who have been roughing up Guerrero in training camp to toughen him for the Garcia bout.
“In the past I was bringing in guys who let me get away with a lot of stuff,” Guerrero said Wednesday during a media event at the Hollister Boxing Gym.
Worse, said Ruben Guerrero, Robert’s father and trainer, “after one or two rounds in the fight, his mind wasn’t there. If his mind’s not set in sparring, it doesn’t connect what he’s doing in the ring.”
Another reason Guerrero might have been flat was he was only three months removed from losing a slugfest to rising superstar Keith Thurman.
Garcia (31-0, 18 knockouts), who was a premier 140-pounder before moving up to 147 last year, said last week one might assume Guerrero came back too soon to take on Martinez, but “he might have underestimated the guy.”
The sparring partner revelation Wednesday gave the theory some credence, but only some.
“I have no excuses,” Guerrero says. “It was three months after the (Thurman) fight. You take the fight. Aron Martinez is a tough guy. I went out there and got the job done. He gave me a tough fight. You just gotta get back on top of it and work hard.”
To be fair, Martinez turned out to be better than your average 33-year-old journeyman. He defeated Devon Alexander, whose career has been similar to Guerrero’s, in a subsequent bout and is on the Staples undercard, fighting unbeaten Sammy Vasquez.
Most of the other topics discussed Wednesday were a rehash from the previous week, when Garcia, pressed, let slip he expects to stop Guerrero in five rounds.
Garcia, a Philadelphian of Puerto Rican descent, downplayed the promotional angle of Mexican vs. Puerto Rican. Guerrero proclaimed himself the more passionate of the two on that subject Wednesday.
“Garcia acts like it’s not a big deal, but it is,” Guerrero said. “It’s a bitter rivalry. We just had Canelo vs. Cotto!” he exclaimed, referring to a major recent fight in which the Mexican, Canelo Alvarez, was the winner.
To sum up the international aspect, said Ruben Guerrero, “Viva la raza.”
