At a small news conference Wednesday afternoon, one day after he
vacated his IBF Junior Lightweight title to fully dedicate his time
to caring for Casey, who was diagnosed with leukemia in November
2007, Rober ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero said he had no hesitations in his
recent decisions to put his flourishing boxing career on hold.
PALO ALTO
With his head held high but with a softness in his voice, three-time world champion boxer Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero stood outside the entrance of Stanford Medical Center where he spends at least half the day, every day, and described the current condition of his wife Casey, who received a bone marrow transplant four weeks ago.
“She’s doing well. She’s doing better,” the Gilroy native said of his wife, who he met 11 years ago when the two of them were in middle school. “She’s making good progress. It’s a slow process and she’s fighting through it. Only time will tell how everything comes out at the end.”
At a small news conference Wednesday afternoon, one day after he vacated his IBF Junior Lightweight title to fully dedicate his time to caring for Casey, who was diagnosed with leukemia in November 2007, Guerrero said he had no hesitations in his recent decisions to put his flourishing boxing career on hold.
“You don’t want to have the stress of having to worry about defending it or getting it stripped, so just vacate it and give someone else a shot,” Guerrero said.
His decision came a week after he withdrew from a March 27 bout with Michael Katsidis. In that fight, Guerrero, 26, would have had the opportunity to lay claim to his fourth world championship in a third weight class.
With the uncertainty surrounding Casey Guerrero’s health in these crucial weeks after the transplant – doctors do not know whether her body will reject the new bone marrow – Guerrero’s main focus shifted to the well-being of his wife.
He said that boxing immediately took a back seat despite the fact that he was approaching the biggest and most lucrative fight of his career. His attention is now on helping Casey fight for her life.
“(Her doctors) are taking good care of her. Stanford is one of the best hospitals in the world,” he said.
Casey has been kept in an isolated room to protect her from infection while her immune system is weakened from surgery.
Any time Guerrero visits he wife, he must thoroughly wash his hands and also wear a mask and gown.
The Guerrero’s have a 2-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter. The two children got to see their mom Tuesday for the first time since her Jan. 25 transplant.
“They were excited about that and so was she,” Guerrero said, cracking a rare smile. “That really lifted her spirits, being able to see her kids.
“They are pretty sharp kids. They know what’s going on. They know she’s sick and when she goes to the hospital the doctors are taking care of her.”
Guerrero would not set a time table for his return to the ring, but made it clear he is confident he will get another shot at a title.
“I’ll be back,” he said, raising his fists as if squaring up with an opponent. “Right now I’m not sure when, but I know I’ll be back in the ring.”
