KNOWING that a loved one is going through a serious illness of any kind brings indescribable emotions on those that are caring for them. Attempting to juggle those feelings as you enter a boxing ring facing a man that wants to knock you out regardless of your situation would be impossible for some to handle.
That was the predicament that Robert Guerrero encountered as he climbed through the ropes to face Martin Honorio in the first defence of his second IBF featherweight title in November 2007. The week of the fight, Guerrero?s wife Casey was diagnosed with leukaemia. No-one would have been surprised if the fight had been a struggle for the champion but the bout surprisingly ended in the first round. ?I landed a great shot and down he went,? explained Guerrero. ?It had been a tough week. But I had a duty to fulfil my contract. I was in that zone where he was never going to beat me.?
That fight put an end to boxing for a short while for Guerrero so he could care for his wife. Thankfully now Casey is on the road to recovery after undergoing a bone marrow transplant. Guerrero can now concentrate on all matters boxing and returns against Robert Arrieta this Friday (April 30). Thus begins former two-time IBF feather and one-time super-feather champ Guerrero?s attempt at claiming a fourth world title at a third weight. The big money and big name fights are simply not there at super-feather at the moment and two men are in Guerrero?s sights.
?God willing that I look good in the next fight then I?m going after Juan Manuel Marquez or Juan Diaz. There are a lot of big fights at 135lbs and my aim is to unify the division. This weight is where the money is for me,? said the 27-year old.
But Guerrero didn?t walk away from the sport entirely whilst caring for Casey. ?I was there for my wife, I supported and cared for her,? he said. ?But I kept myself fit and watched boxing. Working out and keeping fit helped relieve some of the stress of it all. Now I?m ready to go. Seeing her [Casey] getting better is an inspiration and it?s motivation for me too. In this game you have to have your mind right and now there are no worries. I?m 100 per cent ready.?
Following a natural family tradition of boxing that saw his brothers, his father and grandfather all box, Robert wanted to follow in their footsteps. Nicknamed ?The Ghost? (a nickname he got aged nine because of his speed), at 18 he took what he described as a ?gamble? when turning professional. After qualifying as a 16-year old for the 2000 Olympic trials he then had a choice to make by either turning pro at 18 or waiting until he was 20 to try and go to the 2004 Olympics in Athens. ?I had to roll the dice. I?m fairly certain that I made the right decision now that I?ve won three world titles,? laughed Guerrero.
In his 18th professional fight Robert suffered his first loss to Gamaliel Diaz. He would avenge this loss less than a year later and that set him up for his first ?world? title attempt in September 2006 against IBF feather king Eric Aiken. ?I knew that if I got in there and landed my body shots I would get him out of there,? he recalled. ?I was so focused for that fight I knew it would be my time. And becoming a world champion is a feeling that you can?t explain, you can only experience. From there on in everything becomes harder.?
In only the first defence of his title a couple of months later, Guerrero was to come up against a brick wall in the shape of Orlando Salido, who won the title on a points decision. Something wasn?t right and the deflated former champion knew it.
?It was no surprise he tested positive for steroids after the fight,? Guerrero stated. ?For me it was weird: I was hitting him flush and he was getting stronger. He was too strong and too quick. I thought to myself, ?just tough it out and give it your all?. When I found out he cheated I was real mad. He took advantage of a situation and violated it. I?d worked so hard since I was a kid to be champion and he cheated. I was desperate to fight him again but it never happened.?
The result was declared a No Contest and the title was ripped away from Guerrero in the most deplorable of circumstances. The IBF strap was wrapped round his waist once again after a ninth-round stoppage over Spend Abazi in Denmark. After the one-round blow-out of Honorio and one of the finest performances of his career against Jason Litzau came a year-long break to look after his wife again.
That break allowed him to make the move up to super-featherweight. After testing the waters for less than a round in his comeback against Edel Ruiz in 2009 he made his HBO debut six weeks later against Daud Yordan, a fight that would allow the critics to surprisingly question his heart. It would be another fight to be declared a No Contest after Guerrero got cut and declared that he was unable to see.
?The media?s reaction was very upsetting. I was coming off so many great fights. One thing goes wrong and everyone turns their back and starts grilling you on something that was nothing. It sparked the fire in me. They had got Robert Guererro all wrong,? he snarled.
Indeed they did. He got cut again in June of that year in his second fight at super-featherweight against Efren Hinojosa. That was a minor obstacle that he overcame as he got his wish and fought for a world title at his new weight against South Africa?s Malcolm Klaasen. The points victory for Guerrero tasted sweeter than most. ?It was awesome. Coming off all that criticism that year and people grilling me, telling me I was a quitter. I got in the ring at a new weight class and put on a boxing clinic against Klaasen. And that?s despite the fact I sprained my wrist going into the fight. And yet I put on such a dominant performance.?
For all the lessons in defeat, for all the glory, the physical pain and making the critics eat their words it will always be put in perspective by what his wife has went through over the last few years. Now, life is good in the Guerrero household and long may it continue.
