NBC couldn?t have picked a much more intriguing main event for its return to boxing Saturday, as Gilroy?s Robert ?The Ghost? Guerrero takes on Keith Thurman in a battle of high-ranking welterweights in Las Vegas.
Guerrero said the network venue means all the more reason to push an active fight to please an influx of casual viewers, ?people who are not boxing fans. We’ve gotta win their hearts.?
Thurman, possibly a budding superstar, expects to dishearten Guerrero, a six-time world champion in four weight divisions.
?We?re gonna show him we can do what we want to him,? says Thurman (24-0, 21 knockouts), and that?s about the most ominous quote ever to precede a Guerrero fight.
Nevertheless, it?s Guerrero, one of the most complete boxers in the sport, who is being portrayed as the slugger in this 12-rounder, despite the deadly reputation Thurman amassed in his first 23 fights, earning the nickname ?One-Time.?
That?s fair, based on their last fights. Thurman, the WBA welterweight champion, proved he can box for 12 rounds in his December victory over Leonard Bundu. Guerrero traded shots with Japan?s Yoshihiro Kamegai in a bloody but spirited victory last June that typified his transition from tall-for-a featherweight defensive specialist to the welterweight be-there-first attacker who outslugged Selcuk Aydin and Andre Berto.
He knocked Berto down twice in the opening two rounds, and he?s probably going to have to knock Thurman down to beat him. And maybe a few other things, Thurman suggested.
?I?m gonna do a little wrestling in my training camp,? Thurman said in February. ?. I don?t want it to be a shock to me.?
Guerrero (32-2-1, 8 knockouts) promises Thurman?s power won?t be a shock to him.
?That?s why they call him ?One Time.? He?s been taking everybody out and I?m (ready for the challenge)? He CAN punch. His last fight he fought a smart fight.?
Thurman?s speed could be a shock, though. It figures to be the difference in the fight, although Guerrero?s trainer-father, Ruben, told me that Guerrero?s speed is returning as he adjusts to his ascent from 126 pounds in 2008 to 147 in 2012.
Thurman appear to be the speedier of the two, but even if he?s not, he thinks he?s every bit as versatile as Guerrero. ?We love to switch it up.? Thurman said. ?I?m like Mayweather. I like diversity?
He?s probably diverse enough to impress the judges more than Guerrero in a close fight, especially if Guerrero bleeds as much as he has in recent fights. . . . Guerrero needs a no-doubt victory in a fight that?s more likely to be dead-even.
