In late February, Robert ?The Ghost? Guerrero touched down in Las Vegas to begin his training camp in preparation for this weekend?s battle against the rugged Michael Katsidis. For the past few contests, Guerrero had been bound to his hometown of Gilroy, California because of the lingering health concerns of his wife, Casey, who, after being diagnosed with leukemia in 2007, suffered a relapse. With his wife?s condition stabilizing recently, Guerrero could conduct a bona fide camp away from home.
For the first time in quite awhile, his sole focus is now boxing.
“Oh, yeah,” he said to Maxboxing last week, “she just passed a year on being cancer-free so I was able to get out here and get busy. Just focus on straight boxing, now. I don?t have to worry about her doing chemo treatments or any doctor?s appointments or doing anything like making her food and worrying about her health. Now, it?s just about worrying about getting ready for fights and putting out the best work I can.”
Preparing for fights can be among the most selfish pursuits any individual can go through. The focus is squarely on the task at hand and preparing for it. Every whim and sacrifice is focused on the boxer but in this case, it was only natural for Guerrero to be more concerned about his wife?s life-threatening condition than what is just merely a prizefight. Like many other boxers, Guerrero put up a brave front, telling anyone who asked that he was completely focused on the task at hand. No matter what was happening in his personal life, it would not affect his approach to his profession.
Of course, that was a lie. Like a good poker player, you never show your hand.
Guerrero explains, “Us fighters, we try to put on a front and not show any signs of mental breakdowns or not being 100 percent prepared for the fight because a lot of it is psychological, too. Going into a fight, you never want to show those signs. It really does put a lot of wear and tear, having to train at the same time, also looking after my two kids at the same time and then making sure the wife is doing OK and if she?s eating properly, having to force her to eat and maintain her health. Getting her to treatments and traveling back and forth to the doctor or when she was in the hospital, being by her side supporting her as much as I can.
“It doesn?t really leave a lot of time to relax and rest and focus on getting ready for the fights. So it does put a lot of wear and tear on you and you have to put that wall up and that front to show, ?Hey, y? know what? I am ready for that fight,? because you never want to give anybody an edge that you?re worn out.”
Hitting the desert alone wasn?t easy for a young man who, for a few years, had to contemplate the stark reality that his family could be missing an important component.
“It was a little bit hard for [Casey] at first, and for myself, leaving home after not having to for a long time and being so close to the family,” he admitted. “When you go through tragedies like we did and adversity, it brings the family very, very close and real tight. The first week, I was missing home and she was missing me but we know it?s all for the better. I?m going to be 100 percent ready for this fight and we gotta do what we gotta do. We gotta make that sacrifice to be ready.”
Guerrero?s wife and two children will be coming to the fight this weekend.
“It just makes it that much sweeter when you?re away and you?re working hard for the family and making it happen. When it?s all said and done, it is all for the good and it?s exciting,” said Guerrero, who rented a three-bedroom home near Mt. Charleston in North Las Vegas. He does his daily work at the Pound-4-Pound Gym and the famed Johnny Tocco?s.
Just as important as Guerrero?s peace of mind is the fact that Las Vegas is a much more fertile ground for quality sparring than his hometown. A certain sharpness and clarity have been missing from Guerrero?s most recent outings. He?s found ways to win but not necessarily be overwhelmingly impressive against the likes of the faded Joel Casamayor and Vicente Escobedo.
“You get places like Las Vegas, Los Angeles, where sparring is a dime-a-dozen and there are so many different fighters out there and there are so many different styles,” said Guerrero. “It?s easy to find and it?s all game sparring, where back in Gilroy, I?m pretty much the only pro. There?s a couple of other pros but nothing where you have a variety. It?s always better to have a variety of sparring because you?ll be 100 percent. If this guy ain?t giving you the right work, then you got four other guys that can do something different and give you work.”
Asked if this has made him better, he states without hesitation, “You?ll see a lot better Robert Guerrero, a lot more focus, a lot more prepared for the fights. Mentally focused, physically in great shape and everything zeroed in and ready to go. You?ll see a lot sharper, better, faster, stronger Robert Guerrero.”
The bottom line is very simple, against the hard-charging Katsidis, he needs to be. He can?t be the overly cautious guy he was against Casamayor, the fighter who couldn?t control distance against Gamaliel Diaz or the fighter who doesn?t seem to have a clear identity of who he is inside that ring. Katsidis is the type of guy who will take you to the brink, win, lose or draw.
“He puts a lot of pressure and one of the things Katsidis likes to do is break you down with that pressure and not just break you down physically, but mentally,? says Guerrero, who is fighting for both interim versions of the WBO and WBA belts (in what is a historic interim unification tilt). ?Pressure does break guys down mentally where they think they?re tired when they?re just mentally tired because the guy don?t stop. You gotta be prepared for that; you gotta be very prepared for a guy like Michael Katsidis and being out here in training camp, I know I?m not going to leave no stone unturned and I?m going to be very prepared for him.
“I?m very excited for this fight because he?s a modern-day gladiator; there?s no backing up with him. As you seen in the [Juan Manuel] Marquez fight, where [Katsidis?] brother just died, he went into the fight, still fought a tough fight. He dropped Marquez and he fought all the way until they stopped it. He was actually coming forward when they stopped the fight. So he is a modern-day gladiator and he fights till he?s either out on his back or the referee?s getting in and stopping the fight.”
In many ways, this is a litmus test for Guerrero. While he has impressive credentials (being a two-time world champion at 126 and 130 pounds), the sneaking suspicion that he hasn?t always lived up to his physical potential is always looming. A guy that hasn?t always emptied the bucket when it was all said and done. Guerrero?s had a nice career but if he wants to move beyond being just a pretty good fighter, he has to beat the likes of Katsidis (and perhaps vice-versa).
“I knew I had to be 100 percent ready for him and knowing that he?s now mentally there and his whole situation with his brother is behind him,” stated Guerrero. “He?s going to be ready for this fight.”
And so will Guerrero.
FOTY
If you haven?t seen it, I?m sure many of you out there have at least heard about the barnburner between Hernan Marquez and Luis Concepcion in Panama City, Panama, that saw Marquez capture the WBA flyweight strap by scoring an 11th round TKO over Concepcion this past weekend. You knew this was going to be a slugfest when the two men traded knockdowns in the first and they each scored a pair of knockdowns by the fourth round. Rounds one through three could all be candidates for ?Round of the Year? and those may have been trumped by the tenth (where Concepcion rallied to buzz Marquez after hitting the canvas earlier in the round). The bout was eventually halted by the referee and ringside physician at the beginning of the 11th frame because of the cuts suffered by Concepcion. ?El Nica? just had more and more problems seeing the southpaw punches of ?Tyson? Marquez as the fight went on.
It was a brutal affair. The type that often alters the careers of the boxers who go through such experiences (Marquez is 22; Concepcion is 25, so who knows what residual effect this fight will have on the participants?). Right now, this is the clear frontrunner for the 2011 ?Fight of the Year? and it?s going to take a Micky Ward-Arturo Gatti I or Erik Morales-Marco Antonio Barrera I-type of fight to overtake it. The real question is this: was Marquez-Concepcion the best battle to take place since the historic night that Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo waged their memorable war at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas in 2005?
I wouldn?t argue with anyone that says it is?although, if it could talk, the third chapter of Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez might have something to say about that.
Looking ahead, wouldn?t you love to see a series of fights between the quartet of Marquez, Concepcion, Roman Gonzalez and Giovani Segura (who is absolutely moving up to the flyweight division after his most recent stoppage of Ivan Calderon)?
LAS VEGAS
Not sure what it says about the current state of affairs at the MGM Grand, ?Sin City? or how the ?Action Heroes? card is selling this weekend the MGM Grand is offering some of their regular players not only a free room this weekend but free tickets to this weekend?s fight card featuring a main event of Marcos Maidana-Erik Morales. The exact same type of promotion was offered by the Mandalay Bay (which is under the same corporate umbrella as the MGM Grand).
I get the sense that the same offer will not be made for the Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley card on May 7th.
MARTINEZ
After his dominating outing against Sergiy Dzinziruk on March 12th, the representatives of Sergio Martinez were basically promised by HBO that ?Maravilla? would be returning in the summertime. It was thought that Martinez would return in the month of July. Well, recently, it looks like they are now being told that they may not have a summer date for him after all and his return could be delayed into the fall. This means that the chance of seeing this guy three times in 2011 diminish greatly.
Meanwhile, there are rumblings that Dzinziruk could be returning to the network in September.
Based on HBO?s philosophy, is it just me or are boxers better off losing on this network than actually winning? The Martinez camp is between the proverbial rock and the hard place. Showtime won?t be able to pay the type of money that Team Martinez is expecting from HBO and they are not in a position yet to be a true pay-per-view attraction. And when it comes to taking his ball and going to another playground, Lou DiBella is no Bob Arum. Then again, perhaps HBO might have more slots available for him, if y? know, they didn?t ensure that the losers of some of these bouts they have televised were guaranteed return engagements on the networks.
QUARRY
For those who like boxing books, Steve Springer and Blake Chavez have co-authored Hard Luck: the Triumph and Tragedy of ?Irish? Jerry Quarry, which chronicles the life of this heavyweight who had the misfortune of fighting in perhaps the best and deepest era of heavyweight boxing.
This book is published by Lyons Press and retails of $24.95 in the States.
UCONN FLURRIES
Spoke to Freddie Roach for the first time since he arrived back from the Philippines and asked if this camp for Manny Pacquiao was as uneventful and stress-free as it seemed. He said it was and that it was the most focused Pacquiao he has seen since they were preparing for Oscar De La Hoya back in late 2008…As I thought about it, I was very lucky to have been at both Castillo-Corrales I and Vazquez-Marquez III…Deandre ?The Bull? Latimore returns on April 16th against Dennis Sharpe at the Foxwoods…I can?t lie; the UConn-Butler game might have been the worst championship game I?ve ever seen. This looked like a pre-season NIT contest, not a game for the ultimate ?Shining Moment.? The funniest tweet I read was from someone who said that if Butler had shot at Tupac in 1996, that ?Pac would still be alive…Jimmie Johnson apologized to NASCAR for speeding? Isn?t that what these guys do?…I thought the first edition of ?Fight Camp 360? for Pacquiao-Mosley was OK but one thing I really didn?t like was how Gus Johnson?s voice was used for play-by-play on fights he didn?t call. C?mon, you guys are better than that…Is there anything more dangerous in sports right now than going to a Dodgers game while wearing the jersey of the opposing team….
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