By Ryan Maquiñana
The Golden Boy brass was present for Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero’s thrilling triumph in Ontario, Calif., over Andre Berto Saturday night, and commented on the winner’s outing.
“[It was a] beautiful performance,” the promotional company's president Oscar De La Hoya told BoxingScene.com/CSNBayArea.com. “He did a great job. He showed the world he belongs at 147 [pounds], and let’s go after the best.”
De La Hoya also touched on Guerrero’s desire to fight pay-per-view superstar Floyd Mayweather (43-0, 26 KOs) next.
“Robert Guerrero wants Floyd Mayweather,” De La Hoya added. “We’ll have to wait and see. Everybody wants Floyd Mayweather. Canelo [Alvarez] wants Floyd Mayweather. Canelo wants [Miguel] Cotto. Canelo wants [Sergio] Martinez, so we’ll have to wait and see.”
Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer was more definitive with his vision for Guerrero (31-1-1, 18 KOs), a 29-year-old from Gilroy, Calif., who has secured title belts in four different weight classes.
“This kind of performance, this kind of excitement Robert brings to the sport—that’s what we have been waiting for,” Schaefer said at the postfight presser. “I can’t wait to get on the phone and see if I can get that Mayweather fight done.”
The man behind both Berto (28-2, 22 KOs) and Mayweather, incognito advisor Al Haymon, visited Guerrero and his team in the dressing room twice after the fight, acknowledging his adversary’s impressive display and further adding fuel to the possibility of Mayweather-Guerrero sometime in 2013.
Guerrero has the type of story compelling enough to pique mainstream interest. In 2010, he temporarily put his career on hold to tend to his wife Casey, who was diagnosed with leukemia that has since gone into remission. No stranger to misfortune from the boxing end, he also went through months of grueling rehab earlier this year to rebuild a torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder.
“I’m just excited with how far I came and the position I’m in,” Guerrero said. “All I can do is just thank God because he’s blessed me with a lot, and that’s where I’m at.”
Based on Schaefer’s words, a pay-per-view fight should be in Guerrero’s cards for the immediate future.
“Tonight as I said as much as the win, was a statement,” Schaefer said. “I think it was a definitely star-making performance—a performance which is going to reach other audiences outside of the hardcore boxing fans as well, so I really think it’s the total package—the total package [as an HBO] “24/7” star and all these other things.
“Because if he can walk through Berto like that, tell me what 147-pounder can beat this guy? Nobody. Nobody.”
Guerrero knocked Berto down in each of the first two rounds, then held off a furious charge from his foe en route to a unanimous decision win that was scored 116-110 across the board. The clash aired on HBO World Championship Boxing.
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.
