By Chuy Marco
Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero is a special fighter, underrated and seemed to slip through the cracks of boxing, but after his stellar performance against another full fledged welterweight the boxing world has to take notice of him.
Many boxing fans laughed at the thought of Guerrero going to 147 all the way from lightweight (135-pounds), they were saying he was just trying to chase a big money fight with Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao so he can cash out, well Guerrero showed all those doubters that he is legit after the way he man handled a former world champion like Andre Berto.
What I like about Guerrero is his warrior heart, he is a tough Mexican American fighter who is a throwback to those days when a fighter wants to fight anyone and without any fear or catch weights. Guerrero unlike the media darling Manny Pacquiao, fought Andre Berto at 147 no catch weight, and his first fight at 147 was also without a catch weight and against one of the hardest punching boxers at welterweight Selcuk Aydin. Guerrero is a proven warrior, his last name even means warrior in Spanish so you know the guy really has pressure to live up to his name.
In his debut at welterweight and coming off a long lay off from boxing he moved up from lightweight. Guerrero could have fought some scrub for his welterweight debut or try to bring an aging fighter down to a catch weight of 145 pounds the way Manny Pacquiao did, but instead he chose the undefeated Turkish power puncher Selcuk Aydin as his first fight in the division. Guerrero chose Aydin to prove a point, that he doesn’t want to be babied and wants to fight the best and toughest fighters out there and to do it the right way without catch weights or unfair advantages. Guerrero withstood the Turk’s power and beat Aydin by a wide unanimous decision.
When Guerrero signed to fight Andre Berto next, people thought Berto would be too big and too strong, and that Guerrero would finally lose against a natural welterweight, but the guy who looked small and was getting dropped and tossed around was Andre Berto. Guerrero proved that he has grown into the division because he took every power shot from Berto and was the one wobbling Berto with his punches.
Berto tried to use the Floyd Mayweather Jr. shoulder roll stance but Guerrero was finding a home for the straight left down the middle early and hurt Berto with it, even swelling his eye with a straight left. Even though Berto isn’t a master of the shoulder roll style of Mayweather, we still saw a glimpse of what a southpaw puncher like Guerrero can do to a guy who stands in a similar position as Mayweather, he can land the southpaw money shot which is the left hand, and something that gives Floyd Mayweather trouble. Also, Guerrero is an excellent inside fighter, he was so strong on the inside that he was able to have his way with Berto and if Mayweather tries to land those uppercuts on the inside they won’t hurt Guerrero because he proved his chin is solid after Berto landed some very powerful uppercuts on the inside that didn’t even phase Guerrero.
If there is a southpaw who has a chance to beat Floyd Mayweather Jr. it’s probably Robert Guerrero. Manny Pacquiao has no chance, he never had one to begin with. Pacquiao is just a media hyped fighter who will get out boxed again by Juan Manuel Marquez on December 8th, and this time he won’t escape with the gift decision, at least I hope not. The typical casual fan doesn’t understand boxing, if you look deeper and really analyze a fighter and the intangibles going into a fight, you would realize that Manny Pacquiao has never beat a fresh 147 pound fighter in his prime, in fact when he did fight one (Timothy Bradley) he lost. Pacquiao has faced nothing but cherry picked opponents and anyone who signs to fight him has to be at a disadvantage.
Pacquiao’s favorite stipulation is the “Catch Weight,” he loves fighting at catch weights so he can drain and weaken his opponents. How can anyone even consider Pacquiao a warrior after he forces guys to come down in weight to fight him? A true warrior is someone like Robert Guerrero who started his career at 122 pounds but came all the way up to 147 pounds and fought the strongest opponents without any catch weights.
Guerrero is an intelligent boxer, he hits harder and has a better chin than Pacquiao, he also knows how to land that straight left down the middle without going off balance to get countered. Mayweather has a weakness for a left straight, and Guerrero has a hard long left punch from the southpaw stance, Pacquiao has tiny T-rex arms and has to lung forward to land his left, Floyd would just side step Pacquiao’s left and counter him all night, while Guerrero rarely leaves himself off balance or open for a counter after he throws the left.
Who would you give a better chance against Floyd Mayweather Jr.? (A) the guy with a low ring IQ who fought carefully picked opponents, throws wild punches with no defense, and drains his opponents to make him look good or (B) the guy who has proven himself against tougher competition, can box on the outside and inside, and beat guys in their prime without catch weights? I choose B.
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Big time boxing fan. Grew up in East Los, and been an avid follower of the sport and the legends like Julio Cesar Chavez, Vicente Saldivar, Salvador Sanchez, Carlos Zarate, Erik Morales, Ricardo Lopez and Juan Manuel Marquez just to name a few.
Current favorite boxers: Canelo Alvarez, Mikey Garcia.