By Ryan Maquiñana
Robert Guerrero left his hometown of Gilroy, Calif., on Sunday to prepare for his May 4 showdown with Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas, but not before his family and friends surprised him with a going-away celebration the previous night.
“We’re going to have a surprise party for Robert,” Guerrero’s father, Ruben, told BoxingScene.com/CSNBayArea.com hours before it occurred on Saturday. “We even had a special piñata made that looks like Mayweather.”
On Saturday, the fighter went for a morning run before doing an interview with Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, who was first to release the video chronicling Guerrero’s first encounter with Mayweather to promote the fight.
Guerrero then treated the CSN Bay Area and Showtime All Access camera crews to a cloud of dust and the aroma of burnt rubber, as the truck aficionado jumped in his custom-painted Ford and proceeded to do donuts in the field behind the G-Town Boxing Gym.
“Ain’t no Lamborghinis or Ferraris here,” said a chuckling Guerrero, who then joined his wife Casey at a local baseball field to support their son Robert Jr. for Little League Opening Day.
As for the piñata with Mayweather’s likeness, it met an unfortunate end on Saturday night, though May 4 will present a whole different challenge when boxing’s reigning pound-for-pound king appears before Guerrero in the flesh.
“The party was cool. Everyone had a good time. Ruben’s grandkids were hitting the piñata,” said trainer Max Garcia, whom the elder Guerrero counts among his best friends in the sport. “Robert’s going to be ready for Floyd.”
Ryan Maquiñana was the boxing producer for NBCOlympics.com during London 2012 and writes a weekly column for CSNBayArea.com. He is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the Ratings Panel for Ring Magazine. E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com , check out his blog at Norcalboxing.net, or follow him on Twitter: @RMaq28.
