Gilroy boxer to defend title in Vegas
As Gilroy’s Robert
”
The Ghost
”
Guerrero prepares to defend his IBF featherweight title Sept. 15
in Las Vegas against No. 1 contender Ricardo
”
Rocky
”
Juarez, fans of the talented southpaw will be able to chat with
him on a special Web site that was designed to make professional
athletes easily accessible to their fans.
The site is called yardbarker.com.
”
It’s awesome,
”
Guerrero said.
”
I’m the first fighter to go on it. It lets me interact with
fans. I usually go on in the evenings because I’m working out most
of the day. The site also has footage of my training sessions so
that people can see what I go through to prepare for a
championship-level fight.
”
Gilroy boxer to defend title in Vegas
As Gilroy’s Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero prepares to defend his IBF featherweight title Sept. 15 in Las Vegas against No. 1 contender Ricardo “Rocky” Juarez, fans of the talented southpaw will be able to chat with him on a special Web site that was designed to make professional athletes easily accessible to their fans.
The site is called yardbarker.com.
“It’s awesome,” Guerrero said. “I’m the first fighter to go on it. It lets me interact with fans. I usually go on in the evenings because I’m working out most of the day. The site also has footage of my training sessions so that people can see what I go through to prepare for a championship-level fight.”
Guerrero’s 12-round bout against Juarez marks the first time that the Gilroy resident will defend his title since recapturing the vacated belt in February in Denmark against Spend Abazi.
“I’ve been going strong for the last several weeks to prepare for this fight,” Guerrero said. “I’m really excited about it.”
The fight will take place at the MGM Grand Hotel as the co-feature to the main event, which will pit WBC Super Featherweight Juan Manuel Marquez against Jorge Barrios in a fight for the title. Both fights will be broadcast on HBO pay-per-view television.
“I’m going to come out swinging. I always come out swinging,” said Guerrero, 20-1-1 (13 KOs). “Right now, we’re watching Juarez on tape and coming up with a game plan. Right now, I’m getting in shape and sparring a lot in Salinas. Juarez is a strong fighter. If I give him any edge, he’ll take advantage of it.”
While Guerrero is the champion, Juarez brings impressive credentials with him to the table as well. In 2000, Juarez captured the silver medal at the Olympic Games. As a professional he has posted a record of 25-3 – 18 by knockout.
For both fighters, both of Mexican heritage, this bout will have extra meaning as it takes place on the eve of Mexican Independence Day.
“It’s one of those days where fights go down in history,” Guerrero said. “All Mexican fighters bring their ‘A’ game on this day. We want to perform our best to make it legendary.”
After his bout, Guerrero plans to closely follow the main event between Marquez and Barrios as either fighter would be a potential future opponent of Guerrero’s should he move up in weight class.
“Those guys are both big name fighters,” Guerrero said. “Marquez is the world champ at 130 pounds. He’s right there in my group. I could see myself fighting either one of them in the future.”
“Right now, we’re just focusing on this fight,” said Guerrero’s Publicist Mario Serrano. “He’s training to defend against Juarez right now.”
For the past few months Guerrero has put in roughly five hours a day preparing for the fight, which will mark his biggest pay day to date, as tickets are selling for as much as $300 a piece.
“I’ve been watching Juarez since he was an amateur,” Guerrero said. “He has power in both hands, and he comes to fight. He’s a good power puncher and a textbook fighter. I just hope a lot of the local fans head down there to support me. So far, a lot of people have told me they plan on going. It’s going to be big. This is it – it’s all the big time from here on out.”
