This is how it starts. This is how it ends. Sometimes it?s sudden. A bad camp, a bad night, a punch one doesn?t see. Other times it?s gradual?
?I know what every inch of that ring means to me. It means my future as well as my past.??Jerry Quarry
This is how it starts. This is how it ends. Sometimes it?s sudden. A bad camp, a bad night, a punch one doesn?t see. Other times it?s gradual. The body thickens. Response time slows. The losses pile up. It takes longer to heal.
Saturday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, Robert ?The Ghost? Guerrero (33-5-1, 18 KOs), the former featherweight and super featherweight champion from Gilroy, California, lost a split decision to unheralded and David ?El Pirata? Peralta (26-2-1, 14 KOs), a taxi driver from Cordoba, Argentina, who last fought 15 months ago against 22-25-3 Guillermo de Jesus Paz.
The final scores were close. Max DeLuca and Zachary Young had it 116-112 and 115-113 for Peralta. Jerry Cantu gave it to Guerrero, 113-115.
It was Guerrero?s second loss in a row. He has now lost four of his last six fights. Losing to Floyd Mayweather (2013), Keith Thurman (2015), and Danny Garcia (2016) is nothing to be ashamed of. They are undefeated. They are the cr?me de la cr?me.
But losing to Peralta is another story. Once upon a time he wouldn?t have been fit to carry Guerrero?s jockstrap. But times change and men?s bodies change with it and Guerrero, for all his gifts, isn?t sliding, he has slid.
Time has done to Guerrero what it does to all fighters. He is 33, the same age as Peralta, an age when boxers retired. But Guerrero is a warrior and warriors go to war. He is still a great fighter, among the best in the world. He fights because fighting is what he does.
Guerrero won the opening rounds. Ceding four inches in height to Peralta, he used his lifetime of experience and guile to take the first four rounds.
Peralta came on in the fifth. There was some great back and forth in the middle rounds. Guerrero landed some solid uppercuts that got Peralta?s attention.
Peralta appeared to drop Guerrero in the ninth. Guerrero tried to mount a challenge in the final round.
?I thought I clearly won the fight,? said Guerrero. ?For the judge to say I lost eight rounds sounds crazy to me. Peralta was very awkward, but I felt I won. I won the rounds when I boxed.
?This is very disappointing, but I?ll be back. That, you can count on.?
With the win Peralta has been catapulted into the spotlight.
?The referee, whatever he said, I agree,? Peralta said. ?I was a cab driver, driving cabs in Argentina. I was offered a chance to fight in the U.S. and came away victorious .I told myself this was the last fight of my life, so I put everything into this sport that I love. He is a very good fighter but I hit him with the harder shots.I gave it 100%, won the fight and now I feel like I have many years to come.
No way I?m going to retire now. I?ll be ready again to fight soon, this was no joke and I can beat a lot of great fighters.?
