Pernell Whitaker, Glen Johnson and Corey Spinks are linked by
more than that they are former world champions.
Pernell Whitaker, Glen Johnson and Corey Spinks are linked by more than that they are former world champions.
What they also share in common is that each took a fight outside of the U.S. and lost under dubious circumstances.
Will Robert “the Ghost” Guerrero be linked to the above-named fighters after his Feb. 16 International Boxing Federation featherweight title against Spend Abazi?
Don’t think for a moment that Guerrero and his team haven’t considered the possibilities. Perhaps Bob Santos, Guerrero’s co-manager, said it best.
“Our backs are against the walls. I really believe we have to get a stoppage in this fight. We know what’s going on.”
There was also the business side of the decision.
“There were no HBO or Showtime dates available, and we knew that if we went to purse bids there was no guarantee we would win,” Santos said. “And that might have set the bout back three or four months or more.”
That doesn’t mean Santos has negative feelings about the fight.
“I really feel Robert can beat this guy in dominant fashion,” Santos said. “I feel confident Robert will get the title back and that things will be available in a few months.”
The boxing game is difficult enough without having to worry about getting jobbed in another country. Guerrero learned all about one of its seamier sides when Orlando Salido beat him and then tested positive for steroids. Like it or not, that put Guerrero behind the 8-ball because the outcome wasn’t overturned. Rather, it was called a no-decision and the title was declared vacant.
It’s not Guerrero’s fault Salido tested positive for steroids. And yet, Guerrero wasn’t at his best Nov. 4 against Salido since he had to cut some weight before the fight.
But Guerrero insists he is ready for a fight that was first scheduled for the end of March and then moved up six weeks earlier. That is part of the mind games Team Abazi is using to throw Guerrero off his game.
Guerrero, however, does not let himself get too far out of shape at any time.
There’s the added unknown of him fighting in the home country of a featherweight who has never fought out of Europe and, in fact, has fought just once out of Denmark. Heavyweight Brian Nielsen is the most recent Danish “local hero” to win at least a few controversial decisions in Denmark.
Three-time world champion Whitaker went to France in 1988 and lost a split decision to Jose Luis Ramirez, who was Mexican but had French promoters. Former light heavyweight champion Johnson lost a controversial decision to England’s Clinton Woods last year in Lancashire, England. And Spinks lost a suspect decision to Michele Piccirillo in Italy in 2003.
So what does it all mean for Guerrero?
“My mindset is that I have to destroy this guy,” Guerrero said.
It’s a mindset he had better carry into the ring.
