Gilroy
– With a fourth round knockout of Cesar Figueroa on Dec. 9,
Robert
”
The Ghost
”
Guerrero won the NABF featherweight belt, unveiled a complete
set of boxing skills and took a major step towards a world
title.
Gilroy – With a fourth round knockout of Cesar Figueroa on Dec. 9, Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero won the NABF featherweight belt, unveiled a complete set of boxing skills and took a major step towards a world title.
Sounds like an unqualified success.
Not so fast, says Guerrero’s manager, Bob Santos. There’s no question the Figueroa fight was an unqualified success from a ring standpoint. It’s in the politics of boxing where it gets a little tricky.
The problem is that Guerrero didn’t just beat Figueroa, he dismantled him. The knockout didn’t result from a lucky punch or even one of the all-out assaults he was known for previously. Rather, it was the work of a fighter in complete control of the ring, coolly forcing his opponent into mistakes, taking advantages of openings and then striking quickly and mercilessly.
Guerrero became a complete boxer that night at the Pechanga Casino and Resort. And that scares the managers of other fighters, says Santos.
“When people see this fight, they’re going to see a Robert Guerrero they’ve never seen before,” the manager said. “Most managers are not going to want to put their fighters in the ring against this guy.”
Because the fight game makes the college football BCS selection process look like a model of transparency, the prosect of fighters ducking Guerrero – and thus prolonging that road to a WBC or WBA title bout – is very real.
Even casual boxing fans are aware of the difficulties in arranging fights people want to see. Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield were all past their primes before they faced each other due to the machinations of various promoters, for example.
The upshot, though, is that a couple of factors should help Guerrero get his title shot, according to Santos.
First, there are the new rankings coming out soon. “They come out in a month,” Santos said, “And (Guerrero) will be Top 10 across the board, Top 5 in some places.”
What that means is that boxing commissions will force the hands of fighters who’d like to duck Guerrero, by demanding mandatory fights in keeping with the rankings.
A second, and perhaps more important factor is Guerrero’s growing popularity. The Ghost “looks great on TV” said Santos, meaning the ratings seekers at Showtime and Fox Sports will be applying pressure to reluctant managers for fights as well. Big paydays in the ring are temptations that are tough to turn down.
Last week, Showtime boxing division executives voted Guerrero the “Best Young Featherweight in Boxing” and the NABF named him “Boxer of the Month” for December. The buzz is building.
The Guerrero team plans to capitalize on that buzz in 2005. Santos said they’ll be looking for “three to four fights,” with a title bout a possibility next year.
Guerrero himself thinks his title shot could come sooner. “It could be within two fights … it could be my next fight.”
Whenever it comes, the Guerrero camp plans to keep working hard in preparation. The boxer, in Gilroy for Christmas, heads back to training camp at the start of the new year.
There he’ll be reunited with his new trainer John Bray, who both Guerrero and Santos credit with turning The Ghost from a brawler into a boxer.
“I always had all the skills,” said Guerrero. “I could be a brawler, a boxer, whatever.
“But when I got in the ring, it went out the window and I just attacked. Bray taught me how to take all my talent and control the fight. I’m not one-dimensional anymore.”
Bray himself said The Ghost’s evolution in the Figueroa fight was crucial.
“Robert Guerrero looked like a great offensive monster machine,” he said. “But those guys don’t win titles. You have to learn your range, learn how to box. That’s what wins titles.”
And just how good can The Ghost be? According to Bray: “Guerrero is on the road to winning a world title and dominating his division. He don’t drink, he don’t smoke, he don’t chase the broads.
“He’s so focused and he’s on the right path.”
