If you?ve ever spoken Spanish in Mexico, Tagalog in the Philippines, German in Germany or especially French in Paris, you understand the pressure Robert Guerrero will be under Friday when he fights Roberto Arrieta in Las Vegas.
The lightweight bout will headline a Solo Boxeo card on Spanish-language TeleFutura. This is the place for Guerrero (26-1-1, 17 knockouts) to gain a larger following outside his life-long base in California. Who would understand that challenge better than Golden Boy Promotions, whose front man, Oscar De La Hoya, worked hard to expand his fan base from California to Mexico?
Speaking Spanish on camera can be Guerrero?s best public relations asset, so he may be more on the spot outside the ring than inside, where Arrieta (35-15-4) is a credible but not-too-threatening tune-up opponent. Guerrero hasn?t fought since August, when he won the IBF junior lightweight title from Malcolm Klassen.
Fortunately, Guerrero was kidding, sort of, when he once told me, ?Basically, I talk that Taco Bell Spanish.?
He speaks a lot more Spanish than that, says his father, Ruben Guerrero. ?He?s been around a lot of people when he speaks Spanish,? adding that Robert had gotten past a tendency to become shy in such situations because he was self-conscious about pronunciation.
?You?re always going to mix your English and your Spanish,? Ruben said of Latinos in the Bay Area and Central Coast. ?I think people understand.?
In addition, Ruben noted, ?He gets a lot of emails from Mexican people. They love Robert Guerrero.?
Robert is eager to confront this aspect of Friday?s fight, which will air here around midnight. ?I?m excited to be able to fight on Solo Boxeo,? he said. ?It?s one of the biggest networks in the world.?
He probably could have said those words in Spanish without much sweat. But it could get challenging when the complexities of his wife?s battle with leukemia are discussed.
On the other hand, what?s not to love about a guy who gave up a far more lucrative fight than this one to take full part in his wife?s recovery from a bone-marrow transplant.?
Guerrero is likely to come across very well.
