Although Robert Guerrero took a beating Saturday from Keith Thurman in their welterweight title bout, his spirited comeback in the final three rounds left fans cheering for more.
Guerrero is in good spirits in the aftermath, and he?s ready for more, too. He said Wednesday that he wasn?t damaged severely and that he?s eager to fight again soon, while Saturday?s fight is still fresh in the boxing public?s minds.
?Although Thurman and I went to war, my body is recovering well,” Guerrero said Wednesday. ?As crazy as it sounds, I’m ready to get back to work and start training. I’m hoping I can get back in the ring by the summer and finish off strong by the end of the year. If I can get two more fights in this year, I’ll be happy.?
All that having been said, there was a bit of false bravado emanating from the Guerrero camp.
?Went to war? sounds like a close fight, which this was not. Unfortunately, Thurman?s vow that he would be able to do whatever he wanted to Guerrero came true by mid-fight, mostly because he was beating ?The Ghost? from Gilroy to the punch.
There might two or three other people besides Floyd Mayweather and Thurman who could have their way with Guerrero in a welterweight bout. Manny Pacquiao can hit Guerrero at will, although Guerrero might do sufficient damage in return. Canelo Alvarez would be too much at any catch weight.
Before Saturday, Guerrero could have assumed that Mayweather was the only one.
Bob Santos, Guerrero?s co-manager, put a different spin on Saturday?s loss. ?After looking at the fight, I realized Guerrero was fighting a super-middleweight on fight night,? Santos said, ?which makes his fight with Thurman even more unbelievable.?
While it?s true that Thurman has been a 154-pounder in the past and he did gain a lot more weight than Guerrero between weigh-in and fight time, Thurman did get down to the welterweight limit. It was a welterweight bout..
It?s a bit different than Nonito Donaire?s similar whipping at the hands of Nicholas Walters last October in a featherweight bout, Donaire came away questioning whether he belonged in that division, not whether Walters did.
Guerrero stood up to one of the scariest welterweights in the division. The former featherweight champion is ensconced at 147, and boy does he make an attractive opponent for Shawn Porter, Kell Brook, Marcos Maidana or Devon Alexander.
He needs to beat a couple of those guys, and ? he?s right ? he?s got to do it this year.
Read more about Robert Guerrero in Colin Seymour’s free ebook, “The Kingpin Trio/How Three Bay Area Champions Became the Class of Boxing.” Here’s the link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/477166
