THE list just gets longer and longer.
Reigning International Boxing Federation (IBF) featherweight champion Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero wants a piece of Manny Pacquiao, the Filipino boxing star who almost everybody in the fight game wants to fight.
Guerrero, who stands 5′ 8 1/2″ and who enjoys a slight advantage in reach over Pacquiao, now joins the likes of Marco Antonio Barrera, Joan Guzman, Humberto Soto, Edwin Valero and Juan Manuel Marquez as punchers who are itching to get into the ring with Pacquiao.
Gurrero told the website boxingtalk that he is aching to slug it out with Pacquiao and show that he has what it takes to frustrate one of the world’s finest fighters regardless of weight.
“The fight I want right now is Manny Pacquiao,” said Guerrero, who holds a 20-2-1 win-loss-draw card with 13 knockouts. “I don’t want to fight him when he is not in his prime, when people will say I beat him past his best. I want to fight him in his prime.”
“I think I would be more effective at 130 lbs. I am growing, still filling out. I can make 126 easy still, but fighting Pacquiao at 130 lbs would be icing on the cake,” said Guerrero, who also works out at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California.
Guerrero, 24, admits that “Pacquiao is an explosive fighter; that hits extremely hard. But can only come forward. I have a solid jab, my left hand is solid. If you watch the first (Erik) Morales fight you see he had trouble with his boxing style. Morales just did not have enough juice in the next few fights,” said Guerreo.
“Guys are too worried about getting knocked out by Manny, so they don’t stick to their gameplan. I would box him (Pacquiao), keep turning him and I would keep him at range. I have faced five southpaws already. Marquez underestimated Pacquiao, and that is something I wouldn’t do,” added Guerrero.
It is unclear whether Guerrero has a chance of being picked to battle Pacquiao, who should know what lies ahead when he meets with Top Rank big boss Bob Arum early next month in New York.
