By Chris Robinson
In the first part of my interview with former champion Robert ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero, we discussed in-depth his August 27th challenge of Argentinean brute Marcos Maidana. The HBO-televised attraction could pan out to be one of the year’s best fights and I find it interesting that Guerrero, who started his career at 122 pounds, is now around some of the biggest names at 140 and 147 pounds.
If successful against Maidana in a few weeks’ time, no easy task given Marco’s relentless nature, Guerrero will be in a prime position to land some huge fights in the near future. With that in mind I was sure to get his take on some storylines taking place near his new weight class, including a fight with WBA junior welterweight champion Amir Khan in the future, Timothy Bradley’s recent inactivity, Floyd Mayweather’s return against Victor Ortiz, and why he feels Manny Pacquiao has the edge over Juan Manuel Marquez in their November 12th trilogy in Las Vegas.
This is what Guerrero had to say…
Reflecting on Amir Khan’s TKO over Zab Judah in Las Vegas…
“Yeah, I saw the fight. It was a good fight. I went out there, checked it out and wanted to see what Amir Khan could do. He’s a great boxer, he comes out and does his thing, and he’s one top of his game. He’s on top of his game and he’s a future opponent for me.”
Sizing up Khan as on opponent down the road…
“You got to sit down and come up with a game plan for a guy like Khan. He did call me out for this last fight that he had. He said that he didn’t want to fight Zab Judah, and Zab Judah was old. He called me out and I picked the challenge but he decided to go that same way with Zab Judah. You’ve got to prepare for everybody different. You’ve got to go back, break a guy down, look his weaknesses, his strengths, and come up with a game plan to go against that. It’s kind of hard to say how you are going to fight him and right now my main focus is Marcos Maidana and that’s where all my attention is going to.”
Timothy Bradley turning down a possible fight with Khan…
“Yeah, I was a bit surprised but you never know what somebody is going through or what is going on behind the scenes. It’s tough to call something like that. He’s one of the best, he comes to fight all the time, and he goes out there and does his thing. I just think you have to look at the bigger picture. I just look at it like there has to be more there to it. It was a big fight and when it came my way I jumped right at the opportunity.”
Being a throwback fighter…
“Being in the sport, going on ten years already, there’s a lot that goes on. A lot of fighters too, there are situations where they are looking for a bigger ring, a certain style of gloves like Winning or Everlast, catch weights or stuff like that. I’m the throwback type of fighter where I’ll go to the guy’s weight. Like with Maidana, I came up to 140; I challenged Marquez at 135 but I never got the fight so I’m going to look for the biggest fight out there. Khan was up at 140 and I said ‘Let’s do it’. But he decided to go the route with Zab Judah, so I went out there and that’s why I chose to fight Marcos Maidana at 140 pounds. Catch him at his best so I know in my heart I fought him at his best. There’s a lot of stuff that goes on, a lot of these guys who are so-called ‘pound-for-pound fighters’ that look for so many stipulations. I feel you gotta be a throwback fighter; you got to go out there and fight the best. That’s what’s best for the fans and I hope they can appreciate that.”
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Floyd Mayweather’s September 17th return against Victor Ortiz…
“It’s going to be a good fight. Floyd’s a very, very intelligent fighter. He’ll adapt to anything and he’s always been in great shape. There’s not one time where you see Floyd Mayweather out of shape. Whether or not he’s been out for two years, you see him and he looks like he’s been in the gym. He’s always on his game. Victor Ortiz had a great fight with Berto, he’s coming off of his biggest win and his confidence level is real high. And that makes a fighter dangerous, when their confidence level is real high. They’re going to work hard and they are going to come and bring it. It’s going to be an exciting fight.”
Hoping for Mayweather-Pacquiao down the road…
“His comeback fight is against a left-handed fighter, so who knows? I think it’s the biggest fight out there and I think, hopefully, we can see that fight.”
Expecting Pacquiao to dominate over Marquez…
“I see Pacquiao coming up in weight, he’s done it before and he’s been successful at it. Marquez is always in great shape, he’s a very intelligent fighter and he knows how to make things happen; he knows how to adjust in the ring. But Pacquiao, man, he is just on it. He’s getting better every time we see him and Freddie Roach is doing a tremendous job with him. Working on his right hand when before he was just a big left-handed puncher. Now he’s able to jab and hook off of his jab. It’s really making life difficult when you have a guy that fast and a guy who punches that hard, changing up different things. I think it’s going to be a great fight but I think Pacquiao dominates it.”