Robert Guerrero Has Always Wanted To Fight the Best

Published

12 years ago

August 27, 2012

GuerreroAydin Hogan20 If you want to know what happened to the best fighting the best in boxing, Robert Guerrero seems to know the answer. He is just looking for another fighter to think the same way.

When I met Robert Guerrero over three years ago and asked him who he wanted to fight, the confident 130 pounder said Manny Pacquiao, the same Manny who was fresh off of putting Oscar De la Hoya in retirement.

I thought… Well, let’s put it this way, I thought he had a lot of guts, because boxing is a political sport, and I was guilty of thinking politically.

“Why does Robert Guerrero deserve a fight with Manny?” was the first thought that came to my mind. “Pacquiao is too big and too strong,” was another one.

Yet, for all the political faults, mismatches, and bad decisions, in boxing, the sport has an old fashion quality of letting arguments linger.

(See Leonard/Hagler,Lewis/Tyson, Mayweather/Pacquiao)

Robert Guerrero has called out marquee names to fight for years. First it was Juan Manuel Marquez, then Manny Pacquiao, and Floyd Mayweather,with no success.

In January of this year, Guerrero almost got his wish to fight Mayweather when I reported the potential Mayweather/Guerrero fight close to fruition.

That led to Mayweather calling the name of Manny Pacquiao, but Mayweather eventually fought Miguel Cotto, and it left Guerrero without a dance partner. Until last month, when Robert Guerrero moved up two weight classes to win a version of the welterweight title against Selcuk Aydin in front of hometown fans in San Jose, Ca.

After the victory at the post fight press conference, Guerrero spent more time challenging Floyd Mayweather than praising the performance he called “the toughest fight of his life.”

Guerrero said, “I have all of these titles but no one wants to fight. It's crazy, I have all of these titles and no one wants to fight.”

He said it twice. And it sounded strange, but everyone in the room understood. A statement like that carries weight in boxing.

Robert Guerrero has won many titles in multiple weight classes, including the welterweight one. But he is not the publicly recognized welterweight champion until he defeats Floyd Mayweather, or Manny Pacquiao. Guerrero gets it, so he continues to call their names out.

You can call it forward thinking for The Ghost. Or call it what The Joker likes to call, “A misplaced sense of self-righteousness.”

Call it what you want, the beauty of Guerrero is that his story never changes.

Here’s a look at some of the best quotes I got from Robert Guerrero over the years. You might notice a trend sounding like a broken record. Guerrero’s always wanted to fight the best. Check how this 35-month timeline sounds like a flowing conversation from one interview to the next.

January 4, 2009: In our first interview the 126 pound champion moving up for his first fight at 130 pounds dares to confront Manny Pacquiao, says he has the style to beat him.

RM:Well, who would you want to fight, if you had a choice?

RG:Pacquiao would be my first choice. If you put two explosive lefties together it will be a war. I feel like I have the perfect style to beat him.

RM:Why is that?

RG:I have the speed and power. They say people are afraid to come in on Pacquiao, but I have fought a lot of lefties before. If you get a guy that could push Pacquiao back, then you have a real good fight.

RM: You have a point.Pacquiao has not fought many guys that can make him go backwards. If you could do that against him then it would definitely be an interesting fight.

RG: Yeah, Pacquiao has not fought a natural lefty with speed and power that could stand and trade with him,and also bring in side-to-side movement. I just feel like I have the style to beat him.

March 3, 2009

More Manny Pacquiao talk- this time Guerrero explains his motivations to be great…

RM: So if you got into the ring with Manny, it would be more of a pressure fight?

RG: I would put a lot of pressure on him and throw a lot more punches than he is accustomed to. I also have a left-handed style that always makes it difficult.

RM: Hey, speaking of motivation to fight the best, I have a question. When you get tired in the gym and want to push yourself to do that extra rep or extra sparring session, do you picture yourself fighting a guy like Manny Pacquiao? Or do you have some other type of motivation? How do you motivate yourself to work harder in the gym to be a great professional fighter?

RG: Wanting to be the best… Wanting to be the one of the greats in boxing forces me to dig down, suck it up, and push myself. In the long run, that is going to ultimately make me become a more skilled fighter, going the extra mile, and leaving no stone unturned.

June 1, 2009:

Guerrero turned his attention to the best at 130 & 135, mostly Juan Manuel Marquez…

Guerrero said:

“I have been wanted to get into some big fights for some time. I want to get a (Juan Manuel) Marquez fight. Humberto Soto is out there. There are a lot of big fighters out there, especially at 130 or 135 pounds.

August 6, 2011:

Guerrero says he is a throwback fighter and is willing to prove it… He agrees to fight feared 140-pound puncher, Marcos Maidana, in San Jose, Ca.

RM: So you are a five-time world champion in four different weight classes, right?

RG: Yes sir.

RM: And you have moved up four weight classes since 2008 and beaten everyone that you have faced. Is it frustrating when you do not see your name on many of the top ten pound for pound lists?

RG: It does get to me. But at the end of the day you have to keep on trucking. Every great champion has his day to get recognized. I just have to keep doing what I do. That is why I take fights like Marcos Maidana or Michael Katsidis. I am looking for the best fights out there. I am one of those throwback fighters who fight the best to be the best. I am not going to hide, duck, and run from everybody.

RM: Do you think that the best fighters are afraid of you?

RG: I think a lot of fighters take a big gamble and a big risk fighting me. It is the way it is. And that just adds fuel to my fire. If I keep doing what I do then the fans and the media are going to back these guys into a corner. Pretty soon they are going to be forced to fight me. You have seen it over the years, history does repeat itself, Ray. When everybody wants to see a fight it is going to happen.

RM: I don’t want to take anything away from the Maidana fight because I think fight will be exciting. But is there anyone that you would like to fight after a potential victory over Maidana?

RG: Everyone knows that fight, Manny Pacquiao. He is pound for pound the best fighter in boxing. I know Pacquiao does not run or duck from anybody. Like I said, I am one of those throwback fighters. I want to be the best. And if you want to be the best you have to beat the best.

RM: When I talk to you it sounds like I am speaking with a guy that just started boxing. You seem to have so much passion for the fight game. Why do you think that the fire is still strong inside of you?

RG: I love the sport so much. I grew up in a family of fighters. My grandfather was a fighter, my father, my uncles, and brothers were fighters. It is just a family tradition. To keep boxing alive you have to love it. That is what lacks in boxing, the champions that do not want to fight the fights that they should be fighting. And it turns a lot of fans off. I loved boxing when I was a kid because you would see the best fighting the best. And that is the way it should be.

November 19, 2011:

Two months after pulling out of a fight with Marcos Maidana because of a shoulder injury that required surgery, Robert Guerrero decided to move up to welterweight and call out the name of Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Multiple press releases, articles, and interviews followed. Guerrero and his team were pushing for a Mayweather fight like no one before.

RM: I have seen you call out a lot of fighters in the past. But not many fighters have gone to the lengths you have to call out Floyd Mayweather. Everyone wants to fight him. But you are doing it differently. There are press releases talking about the potential fight, predictions from boxing experts, and you have gone on talk shows to call him out. What makes this fight any different from the other challenges you have made?

RG: You know Floyd is the ultimate challenge. He is the best fighter in boxing right now hands down. And I am like those throwback fighters man, I want to fight the best. Every time I call out the best like Marquez,Pacquiao, or Khan, none of them want to fight. We are approaching this challenge like ‘Hey, let’s make it happen. I know he set that date. Cinco de Mayo. I am Mexican-American right here. Let’s do it.’

RM: No doubt. I have seen you fight. And you do a lot of great things in the ring. But the nature of this interview is for me to play devil’s advocate. What makes you think that you could beat a fighter that has never been beaten?

RG: I have a lot of faith in my ability. I believe I could beat anybody in the world. If you go into the ring without confidence, it haunts you. A guy like Floyd Mayweather, who is intelligent in the ring, takes advantage of weaknesses like that. I am that type of guy that is here to fight. I am here to take care of business. Nobody intimidates me. I ain’t scared of anybody. I go in the ring to win the fight. I don’t go in there just to fight.

RM: Do you think some of Floyd’s recent opponents just went in the ring to survive?

RG: You have to have a killer instinct. You have seen me fight. I go in with a killer instinct. Some people doubt themselves. Floyd has the utmost confidence in himself. That is why he is so dominant. That is why he hasn’t lost a fight. I am 100% confident in myself.

RM: You have to go in 100% confident right?

RG: Yeah, you have to be. The one thing I love is doubters. When I am the underdog I step up. I am a playmaker. When it is time to make that play, I am there. I will hit that home run.

RM: So, you want to fight the best. And Floyd is the man with the guts to take you on. Is that how it boils down?

RG: He says he takes on all challengers. Everything is there to make that big fight. I could sell a big fight. The last fight I was supposed to have with Maidana was a sellout. It is all there for us to make a big fight with me and Floyd Mayweather.

RM: What's your prediction for that fight, maybe a knockout?

RG: With me and Floyd?

RM: Yeah.

RG: Who knows? I believe in myself. I believe I could knock him out. Anything could happen in boxing. If you believe in yourself and have faith, anything could happen.

RM: Do you expect Floyd to accept your challenge? Or do you think he is not really paying attention?

RG: I know he is paying attention. Floyd Mayweather would not be pound for pound best fighter in the world if he wasn’t paying attention. Even when he retired he was paying attention. I am expecting him to take on the challenge.

RM: Do you have a message for Floyd Mayweather?

RG: Yeah, the only way this fight will not be made is if he doesn’t want it.

…..

The boxing public is witnessing the growth in Robert Guerrero. It just took a bit longer than he might have expected.

Now, when Guerrero shouts at Mayweather, Pacquiao, (or most recently Adrian Broner,) it’s front-page boxing news. In the past, Guerrero built his campaign on guts for calling out the best, now he does it with clout.

You can follow Ray Markarian on Twitter @raymarkarian

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Raymond Markarian

Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?

Published

15 hours ago

December 20, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Fury-Usyk-Reignated-Can-the-Gypsy-King-Avenge-His-Londe-Defeat?

In professional boxing, the heavyweight division, going back to the days of John L. Sullivan, is the straw that stirs the drink. By this measure, the fight on May 18 of this year at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was the biggest prizefight in decades. The winner would emerge as the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999 when Lennox Lewis out-pointed Evander Holyfield in their second meeting.

The match did not disappoint. It had several twists and turns.

Usyk did well in the early rounds, but the Gypsy King rattled Usyk with a harsh right hand in the fifth stanza and won rounds five through seven on all three cards. In the ninth, the match turned sharply in favor of the Ukrainian. Fury was saved by the bell after taking a barrage of unanswered punches, the last of which dictated a standing 8-count from referee Mark Nelson. But Fury weathered the storm and with his amazing powers of recuperation had a shade the best of it in the final stanza.

The decision was split: 115-112 and 114-113 for Usyk who became a unified champion in a second weight class; 114-113 for Fury.

That brings us to tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 21) where Usyk and Fury will renew acquaintances in the same ring where they had their May 18 showdown.

The first fight was a near “pick-‘em” affair with Fury closing a very short favorite at most of the major bookmaking establishments. The Gypsy King would have been a somewhat higher favorite if not for the fact that he was coming off a poor showing against MMA star Francis Ngannou and had a worrisome propensity for getting cut. (A cut above Fury’s right eye in sparring pushed back the fight from its original Feb. 11 date.)

Tomorrow’s sequel, bearing the tagline “Reignited,” finds Usyk a consensus 7/5 favorite although those odds could shorten by post time. (There was no discernible activity after today’s weigh-in where Fury, fully clothed, topped the scales at 281, an increase of 19 pounds over their first meeting.)

Given the politics of boxing, anything “undisputed” is fragile. In June, Usyk abandoned his IBF belt and the organization anointed Daniel Dubois their heavyweight champion based upon Dubois’s eighth-round stoppage of Filip Hrgovic in a bout billed for the IBF interim title. The malodorous WBA, a festering boil on the backside of boxing, now recognizes 43-year-old Kubrat Pulev as its “regular” heavyweight champion.

Another difference between tomorrow’s fight card and the first installment is that the May 18 affair had a much stronger undercard. Two strong pairings were the rematch between cruiserweights Jai Opetaia and Maris Briedis (Opetaia UD 12) and the heavyweight contest between unbeatens Agit Kabayal and Frank Sanchez (Kabayel KO 7).

Tomorrow’s semi-wind-up between Serhii Bohachuk and Ismail Madrimov lost luster when Madrimov came down with bronchitis and had to withdraw. The featherweight contest between Peter McGrail and Dennis McCann fell out when McCann’s VADA test returned an adverse finding. Bohachuk and McGrail remain on the card but against late-sub opponents in matches that are less intriguing.

The focal points of tomorrow’s undercard are the bouts involving undefeated British heavyweights Moses Itauma (10-0, 8 KOs) and Johnny Fisher (12-0, 11 KOs). Both are heavy favorites over their respective opponents but bear watching because they represent the next generation of heavyweight standouts. Fury and Usyk are getting long in the tooth. The Gypsy King is 36; Usyk turns 38 next month.

Bob Arum once said that nobody purchases a pay-per-view for the undercard and, years from now, no one will remember which sanctioning bodies had their fingers in the pie. So, Fury-Usyk II remains a very big deal, although a wee bit less compelling than their first go-around.

Will Tyson Fury avenge his lone defeat? Turki Alalshikh, the Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and the unofficial czar of “major league” boxing, certainly hopes so. His Excellency has made known that he stands poised to manufacture a rubber match if Tyson prevails.

We could have already figured this out, but Alalshikh violated one of the protocols of boxing when he came flat out and said so. He effectively made Tyson Fury the “A-side,” no small potatoes considering that the most relevant variable on the checklist when handicapping a fight is, “Who does the promoter need?”

The Uzyk-Fury II fight card will air on DAZN with a suggested list price of $39.99 for U.S. fight fans. The main event is expected to start about 5:45 pm ET / 2:45 pm PT.

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Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year

Published

1 day ago

December 19, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Unheralded-Bruno-Sarace-went-to-Tijuana-and-Forged-the TSS-2024-Upset-of-the-Year

Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year

The Dec. 14 fight at Tijuana between Jaime Munguia and Bruno Surace was conceived as a stay-busy fight for Munguia. The scuttlebutt was that Munguia’s promoters, Zanfer and Top Rank, wanted him to have another fight under his belt before thrusting him against Christian Mbilli in a WBC eliminator with the prize for the winner (in theory) a date with Canelo Alvarez.

Munguia came to the fore in May of 2018 at Verona, New York, when he demolished former U.S. Olympian Sadam Ali, conqueror of Miguel Cotto. That earned him the WBO super welterweight title which he successfully defended five times.

Munguia kept winning as he moved up in weight to middleweight and then super middleweight and brought a 43-0 (34) record into his Cinco de Mayo 2024 match with Canelo.

Jaime went the distance with Alvarez and had a few good moments while losing a unanimous decision. He rebounded with a 10th-round stoppage of Canada’s previously undefeated Erik Bazinyan.

There was little reason to think that Munguia would overlook Surace as the Mexican would be fighting in his hometown for the first time since February of 2022 and would want to send the home folks home happy. Moreover, even if Munguia had an off-night, there was no reason to think that the obscure Surace could capitalize. A Frenchman who had never fought outside France, Surace brought a 25-0-2 record and a 22-fight winning streak, but he had only four knockouts to his credit and only eight of his wins had come against opponents with winning records.

It appeared that Munguia would close the show early when he sent the Frenchman to the canvas in the second round with a big left hook. From that point on, Surace fought mostly off his back foot, throwing punches in spurts, whereas the busier Munguia concentrated on chopping him down with body punches. But Surace absorbed those punches well and at the midway point of the fight, behind on the cards but nonplussed, it now looked as if the bout would go the full 10 rounds with Munguia winning a lopsided decision.

Then lightning struck. Out of the blue, Surace connected with an overhand right to the jaw. Munguia went down flat on his back. He rose a fraction-of-a second before the count reached “10,”, but stumbled as he pulled himself upright. His eyes were glazed and referee Juan Jose Ramirez, a local man, waived it off. There was no protest coming from Munguia or his cornermen. The official time was 2:36 of round six.

At major bookmaking establishments, Jaime Munguia was as high as a 35/1 favorite. No world title was at stake, yet this was an upset for the ages.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Steven Navarro is the TSS 2024 Prospect of the Year

Published

2 days ago

December 18, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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“I get ‘Bam’ vibes when I watch this kid,” said ESPN ringside commentator Tim Bradley during the opening round of Steven Navarro’s most recent match. Bradley was referencing WBC super flyweight champion Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, a precociously brilliant technician whose name now appears on most pound-for-pound lists.

There are some common threads between Steven Navarro, the latest fighter to adopt the nickname “Kid Dynamite,” and Bam Rodriguez. Both are southpaws currently competing in the junior bantamweight division. But, of course, Bradley was alluding to something more when he made the comparison. And Navarro’s showing bore witness that Bradley was on to something.

It was the fifth pro fight for Navarro who was matched against a Puerto Rican with a 7-1 ledger. He ended the contest in the second frame, scoring three knockdowns, each the result of a different combination of punches, forcing the referee to stop it. It was the fourth win inside the distance for the 20-year-old phenom.

Isaias Estevan “Steven” Navarro turned pro after coming up short in last December’s U.S. Olympic Trials in Lafayette, Louisiana. The #1 seed in the 57 kg (featherweight) division, he was upset in the finals, losing a controversial split decision. Heading in, Navarro had won 13 national tournaments beginning at age 12.

A graduate of LA’s historic Fairfax High School, Steven made his pro debut this past April on a Matchroom Promotions card at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas and then inked a long-term deal with Top Rank. He comes from a boxing family. His father Refugio had 10 pro fights and three of Refugio’s cousins were boxers, most notably Jose Navarro who represented the USA at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and was a four-time world title challenger as a super flyweight. Jose was managed by Oscar De La Hoya for much of his pro career.

Nowadays, the line between a prospect and a rising contender has been blurred. Three years ago, in an effort to make matters less muddled, we operationally defined a prospect thusly: “A boxer with no more than a dozen fights, none yet of the 10-round variety.” To our way of thinking, a prospect by nature is still in the preliminary-bout phase of his career.

We may loosen these parameters in the future. For one thing, it eliminates a lot of talented female boxers who, like their Japanese male counterparts in the smallest weight classes, are often pushed into title fights when, from a historical perspective, they are just getting started.

But for the time being, we will adhere to our operational definition. And within the window that we have created, Steven Navarro stood out. In his first year as a pro, “Kid Dynamite” left us yearning to see more of him.

Honorable mention: Australian heavyweight Teremoana Junior (5-0, 5 KOs)

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