Gilroy’s champion will fight for the world title Saturday, but
it’s his heart
– not his devastating punches – that impresses those who have
known him for a long time
By Marc David Sports Editor
Gilroy – Image is everything in Robert Guerrero’s world.
Yes, he is fighting for the International Boxing Federation featherweight championship Saturday against Eric Aiken at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Boxing, however, is more a means to an end for Gilroy’s favorite son. Who he is today is measured through his Christian faith and his loyal local followers who swear by him, not so much because of his success as a boxer, but more because of who he is as a man.
“Trust me, Robert is the type of person who would give you the shirt off his back,” said Jesus Begines, Guerrero’s closest friend. “He is an awesome person.”
Their relationship goes back to the fourth grade at Glen View Elementary School. Begines was playing tetherball when Guerrero walked by and said he wanted to play.
“Ever since then, we’ve been playing,” said Begines, who boxed briefly and now is a successful businessman who owns The Door Expo. “Not once have we had an argument. He always understood me, and I always understood him. Robert was never the type of person who got caught up in bad things. He’s not an aggressive type of person.
“He would never use his fame or skill to belittle someone or overpower them. He’s really a very gentle person.”
Begines, who has a twin brother, Arturo, and Guerrero have plenty in common in addition to their age. Both are 23 and, born March 15, Begines is 12 days older. Both have strong Christian values and attend Foothill Four Square Christian Church. Each has a strong love of athletics, each comes from a close, large family and each shares a love of vintage automobiles. They even live a block from each other on the west side of Gilroy,
There are others who have bonded with Guerrero as well. Fernando Sanchez is a hair stylist at Elite Barber Shop. Sanchez, who is three years older, did some boxing with Guerrero’s older brothers, Ruben and Victor.
“When he was 9, I would see him working on the bags and everything came natural to him,” Sanchez said. “He looked like a natural-born fighter. I watched as he sharpened his skills to become a very good amateur.”
Sanchez fought for seven years before moving on to other things. But he still spends plenty of time around boxing, attending Guerrero’s fights whenever they are in California. Sanchez will miss Saturday’s fight, though, because he is getting married. Knowing how much family means to Guerrero, Sanchez knows his friend understands.
“He lives a low-key life,” Sanchez said. “He comes to the barber shop when he is town. Most of the time, he likes to spend time with his wife (Casey) and daughter (Savannah).
“The town needs to recognize we have a superstar on our hands. It’s nice to see him making it out of our small gym at Sixth and Railroad streets. It’s nice to see that he has stayed focused and made it as far as he has in his career.”
Sanchez has just one request of Guerrero.
“I told him the best (wedding) gift he can give me is to bring home the belt,” Sanchez said. “I want to hold it.”
If there are any mementos from this fight, “Pool Hall Bob” is sure to have them in his wall case. Bob Tapella has owned Garlic City Billiards since 1994. His first image of Guerrero was seeing the skinny youngster run past his business on Monterey Street.
He got to know Guerrero through business dealings with his father, Ruben Guerrero, who operates Guerrero Fencing when not in the corner of his third son. Tapella’s establishment has a 5-foot by 10-foot picture of Guerrero on one wall. On the other side is his glass case with all types of Guerrero memorabilia, such as gloves, trunks and posters.
“He’s such a great kid,” Tapella said. “You have to be happy for someone like him because of the way he lives his life.”
Gilroy mail carrier Art Barron, a community activist, can’t say enough positive words about Guerrero and how much he has done to make Gilroy a better place to live.
“I met Robert at a Christmas event at Veteran’s Hall,” Barron said. “We had asked him to help out less fortunate children. We expected 150 people and had more than 300 with a line out the door. He signed autographs and helped hand out presents for three hours.”
Last year, Guerrero returned to his old elementary school to participate in an event in which every youngster received an ice cream cup and autographed photo.
“I didn’t even know he (attended) there,” Barron said. “He spoke from the heart, telling the kids that fighting was like taking a test, how training and preparation were so important.”
He also explained to the youngsters that education came first in the Guerrero home. Ruben Guerrero, a two-time Golden Gloves champion in San Francisco, told Robert in no uncertain terms that either he got good grades or he didn’t fight. It wasn’t a choice. It was the house rule.
“He’s prepared himself as if each fight was a test,” Barron said.
Guerrero’s biggest test is how he lives his everyday life. While he does some training in San Jose and Los Angeles, he never strays too far from his Gilroy roots.
“The people of Gilroy mean so much to me,” Guerrero said. “I grew up in Gilroy with all my family and friends. We are a hard-working community, and that I can say inspires me to give it all I got come fight night. I want the world to know that my hometown fans are the best fans in boxing.”
These are more than words from a young man who has lived his whole life in Gilroy, attending Brownell Middle School and Gilroy High School (class of 2001).
There was the time when he participated in the Relay for Life at Christmas Hill Park. It was a 24-hour event to commemorate people who had died from cancer and a way to pay tribute to survivors.
“There were 10 of us,” Sanchez said. “Robert stayed through the whole (event). He never said he was going to go to sleep. At first it was planned as an appearance, but he ended up staying for the whole thing.”
Barron remembers the fund-raisers for 18-year-old J.R. Adams and 5-year-old Brayan Trejo. Adams was the young man who died after being hit by a vehicle in Cancun, Mexico. Guerrero signed autographs and one of his boxing gloves was raffled off with the money going to the Adams family. Trejo also died after being hit by a vehicle.
“I remember it being the hottest day of the year,” Barron said. “We had a (vintage) car show at Dutchman’s Pizza. He got people to show up. They paid a $20 entrance fee. It was to pay for the (Trejo) family’s funeral expenses. Robert stood for four hours signing autographs and taking pictures. We raised probably $500.”
“He really gives back to his community,” Sanchez said. “He has such a big heart and doesn’t forget where he came from.”
And he doesn’t forget his friends. Begines points out that he has the keys to Guerrero’s vintage automobiles and Guerrero’s got the keys to his. Their tastes in cars may vary, but their outlooks on life and treating others doesn’t.
“When he got big, I told him I was really proud of him and that he got everything he deserved,” Begines said. “The only thing that saddened me is now people might think I’m in it for something.”
But Begines knew better when Guerrero asked him to be godfather to his daughter, Savannah. And Begines was one of two best men at Guerrero’s wedding. Begines’ girlfriend, Cristina, was Casey Guerrero’s maid of honor. They even have their own nicknames for one another – Begines is Chuy and Guerrero is Joseph (his middle name).
Begines left early Thursday for the drive to Los Angeles so he could have dinner with his buddy. No doubt they would reminisce about such events as the time when as teen-agers they, their brothers and friends were play fighting at the Begines home and left a gaping hole in the wall. They hustled down to the local supply store to buy some putty to fill in the wall. Felipe Begines, Jesus’ father, noticed about one week later and asked what had happened.
During that incident at the Begines house, which was as mischievous as the two would get, they escaped punishment by trying to make things right. They have been there for each other like brothers for almost 15 years now. That transcends boxing.
“We were at a restaurant in Morgan Hill one day,” Begines said. “He told me, ‘I am working for my family. If God came to me and told me he doesn’t want me to fight any more I’d stop right now. If that belt is the root of all evil, I don’t want it.’ ”
That’s the image that Guerrero has created for himself and that he tries to maintain on a daily basis.
To boxing fans, he is “the Ghost.” To his friends, he is just plain Robert.
Marc David is the Dispatch sports editor. Reach him at 842-1694, or at md****@************ch.com.
