By Keith Idec
One of the most important adjustments Robert Guerrero has made in preparing for his nationally televised January 23 fight against Danny Garcia is getting sparring partners who’ll properly help him get ready.
For his last two fights, Guerrero didn’t feel as though his sparring partners pushed him. It showed, according to Guerrero, in the former four-division champion’s performances against Aron Martinez (20-4-1, 4 KOs), whom Guerrero beat by split decision June 6 in Carson, California, and Keith Thurman (26-0, 22 KOs), who defeated Guerrero by unanimous decision March 7 in Las Vegas.
The 32-year-old Guerrero (33-3-1, 18 KOs, 2 NC), of Gilroy, California, made sure that didn’t happen again once he agreed to fight Philadelphia’s Garcia (31-0, 18 KOs) in a 12-round welterweight bout at Staples Center (FOX).
“You’ve got to get better sparring,” Guerrero said during a conference call Thursday. “For the last couple fights, I’ve just been sparring with guys that are not pushing me in the gym and getting me 100-percent ready, guys that I can do what I want to do with in the ring. And, you know, it just doesn’t cut it. It just doesn’t cut it.
“That’s one of the biggest things that I’ve noticed in my training camps – not having that solid sparring that’s going to take you to that limit, and make you better, stronger, faster, keep your eyes sharp and be ready to make those exchanges, where you’re going to do something wrong and they’re going to make you pay. Not you’re going to do something wrong, and the guy’s gonna shell up and just try to survive in the ring. You need those guys that are gonna push you and make you better.”
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
