Robert ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero confident he can still hang with the top guys

Robert Guerrero

Robert Guerrero/Photo courtesy of Premier Boxing Champions

 

Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero has won world titles in the featherweight and super featherweight divisions, and interim titles at lightweight and welterweight. But he hasn’t even held an interim title for nearly four years, so it’s safe to say he’s looking to get back into the title picture.

Considering he distinguished himself well in his most recent bout – a unanimous-decision loss to Danny Garcia in a welterweight title fight in January – Guerrero has reason to believe he can still get back to the promised land, though it will be difficult to do in the tough welterweight division in which he toils.

Guerrero (33-4-1, 18 KOs) has no doubt he can get there.

“I want to get back in there with the top guys,” said Guerrero, who Aug. 27 will take on David Peralta (25-2-1, 14 KOs) of Argentina in the main event at Honda Center (on Spike). “All the fights are there. I have to get back in that position. I have to get them to stand toe-to-toe with me.”
That was no doubt a shot at Garcia, who moved quite a bit against Guerrero.
“I don’t need to prove anything to myself,” Guerrero said. “I know I can fight. I come in and work hard every day. I have to go and prove it to the fans. The fans are what makes us. I have to prove it to everybody watching that I’m there at the top level.
“We definitely want a rematch with Danny Garcia. If I don’t get that, it’s anyone at 147 pounds. The guys are all there and I’m ready to battle.”
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Alfredo ‘El Perro’ Angulo eager to show he still has goods to fight for title

Alfredo Angulo/Photo courtesy of John Aguon/Spike, Premier Boxing Champions

 

Alfredo “El Perro” Angulo of Mexico was very good as a junior middleweight and once held an interim world title in that division. But a lot has happened since then.

Angulo is now fighting as a super middleweight. He has lost three of his past five bouts – the two victories in there were against journeymen – yet he believes he still has a world-title shot in him.

Angulo on Aug. 27 will take on countryman Freddy Hernandez (33-8, 22 KOs) at Honda Center underneath the welterweight bout between Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero and David Peralta (on Spike). At a news conference Tuesday, Angulo spoke about the task at hand as well as what the future might hold for him.

“I want to show people that ‘El Perro’ is back and that I still want to compete in the biggest fights,” said Angulo, 33. “If I work hard, I think that I can have an opportunity by next year for a title shot. I have a great team in training and we’re working hard for this challenge. I want to put on a great show for the fans. I want fans to remember my fights and I think this will be the best fight of the night.”

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Robert Guerrero back in ring against David Peralta in August – then what?

Robert Guerrero

Robert Guerrero/Photo courtesy of Premier Boxing Champions

 

Former world champion Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero has lost three of his past five bouts. But they were to Floyd Mayweather Jr., Keith “One Time” Thurman and most recently Danny Garcia. No shame there.

Guerrero, 33, will get back in the ring for the first time since what was a good – yet unsuccessful – showing against Garcia for a vacant welterweight world title in January at Staples Center. He’ll headline an Aug. 27 card at Honda Center when he takes on David Peralta of Argentina in the welterweight main event (on Spike).

American fans know little of Peralta (25-2-1, 14 KOs), who has fought exclusively in Argentina. Guerrero seems to know something about him, though.

“My opponent is a tough fighter from Argentina,” said Guerrero, of Gilroy. “Everybody knows that fighters from Argentina always come to fight, so I must be prepared and I’m expecting a war.”

From here on, it will be interesting to see what Guerrero does in his career. He would seem to be a way off from another title shot, as he is ranked in the top 15 of just one of the four organizations. And it’s a No. 13 ranking, so no one is going to owe him anything soon.

Considering his showing against Garcia, Guerrero – just 33 – certainly isn’t ready to hang ’em up. But it doesn’t seem he would have enough to beat any of the champions in the division, though he would appear to have the best shot against Jessie Vargas. The other three are Thurman, Garcia and Kell Brook, who is moving up to middleweight to challenge Gennady Golovkin for his title in September in England.

Here’s a thought: Guerrero could move down to junior welterweight. He never really did fight there, as he went from lightweight straight to welterweight; Guerrero had one fight technically in the junior welterweight division when he weighed 138 for Joel Casamayor, but he only weighed 133 and 134 his next two fights before moving to welterweight. (Lightweight is 135). Guerrero weighed in at 145 1/2 pounds just a year ago for a fight against Aron Martinez. He is not a big welterweight at all.

Of Guerrero’s seven fights at welterweight, he has weighed in at as high as the 147-pound limit just twice.

Not that the 140-pound junior welterweight division would be a cake walk to a title. Viktor Postol and Terence Crawford are two of the champions. Those two beasts will take on each other Saturday at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on HBO pay-per-view).

 

 

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Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman has plenty for which to be thankful in 20th year

Keith Thurman

Keith Thurman/Photo courtesy of Premier Boxing Champions

 

Keith “One Time” Thurman has been a prize-fighter for some 8 1/2 years, but this is his 20th year in the game after taking up the sweet science at age 7 as part of an after-school program.

Thurman has plenty for which to be thankful, and he spoke about that this week as he continued preparation for his welterweight title defense against Shawn Porter on June 25 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn (on CBS).

“It’s been an amazing journey and no one predicted this better than my first coach Ben Getty,” Thurman, 27, said. “It puts me in a state of gratitude for Ben. He told everyone I’d be world champ, and here I am, defending my title against Shawn Porter. I am just starting to see what Ben Getty saw in me and the mark that I can make in boxing.”

Thurman, who is now trained by Dan Birmingham and assistant Chris Getty – Ben Getty’s son – is 26-0 with 22 knockouts. He won the interim title in July 2013 with a 10th-round knockout of Diego Gabriel Chaves in July 2013 and became full champion with a wide unanimous decision over Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero in March 2015; Thurman has made one successful defense.

The fight with Guerrero was only the fourth time Thurman had been taken the distance. He takes pride in his knockout ratio of 81 percent.

“My goal is to be known as the hardest-hitting welterweight in the division,” said Thurman, of Clearwater, Fla. “This camp, if anything, I feel more comfortable. I’m fully recovered, sparring, training. I’ve been throwing power punches for what seems like forever and it’s a little weird. I can’t help but think about how this is my 20th year in boxing and knowing the longevity I’ve had. It’s given me a new confidence.”

Thurman and Porter (26-1-1, 16 KOs) were to fight in March, but Thurman sustained whiplash in a February car crash and the fight was postponed.

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Robert ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero, Yoshihiro Kamegai make weight for Saturday’s fight

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Photo by Gene Blevins – Hoganphotos/Golden Boy Promotions

Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero (pictured left) and Yoshihiro Kamegai on Friday both made weight for their welterweight showdown Saturday at StubHub Center

Weighing in at the DoubleTree Hotel in Carson, Guerrero weighed in at 146 pounds, a pound under the 147-pound limit. Kamegai came in at 146.8 pounds.

The semi-main event fighters also made weight. Gary Russell Jr. and Vasyl Lomachenko both weighed 125.4 pounds for their featherweight world-tltle fight; the limit is 126.

Showtime will televise both bouts on the Golden Boy Promotions card.

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Yoshihiro Kamegai vows to leave indelible mark in fight with Robert Guerrero

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Yoshihiro Kamegai of Japan will take on Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero on Saturday at StubHub Center

Photo by Gene Blevins – Hogan Photos/Golden Boy Promotions

It’s safe to say not many boxing fans in United States know a lot about Japan’s Yoshihiro Kamegai, who will be the underdog when he takes on Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero in the welterweight main event Saturday at StubHub Center. He promises to leave a lasting impression, however.

“This is a very important fight and a tremendous opportunity for me,” Kamegai said. “Not a lot of people know me now, but they will after the fight.”

Guerrero, of Gilroy, is 31-2-1 with 18 knockouts. Kamegai is 24-1-1 with 21 knockouts. He has previously fought three times in the U.S.

 

 

 

 

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Robert ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero anxious to see what he learned from loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr.

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View GuerreroKamegaiWorkout_Hoganphotos2.jpg in slide show

Photo by Gene Blevins – Hogan Photos/Golden Boy Promotions

Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero will fight for the first time in 13 months Saturday when he takes on Yoshihiro Kamegai (24-1-1, 21 KOs) of Japan in the welterweight main event at StubHub Center (on Showtime).

Guerrero (31-2-1, 18 KOs), of Gilroy, has been inactive this long in part because he had contractual hassles with his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions. The sides didn’t want to touch much on that during a conference call Tuesday – obviously, things are settled enough to where Guerrero is going to fight – but Guerrero did talk about many other things. Included was his one-sided decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 4, 2013 in Las Vegas.

“To bounce back, it wasn’t tough at all,” said Guerrero, when asked about the psychological aspect of getting over his first loss in 7 1/2 years. “You’ve gotta learn from experiences like that. I lost to be the best fighter in the world. You want to get better, you want to get stronger, you want to get faster. It really lit a fire under me to become a better fighter. I can’t wait to get out there and fight.”

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