It wasn’t the jabs that found their way to Sandro Marcos’ jaw. It wasn’t the blood Robert Guerrero’s stiff punches finally drew. It wasn’t the eventual TKO.
No, the sign that boxer Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero would be able to rebound just fine from his first loss showed itself even before the Guerrero-Marcos 10-round Fight Night at the Tank main event action began Thursday.
As the Ghost emerged from the fake smoke and the underground tunnel at HP Pavilion, edgy music from Alice in Chains blasted from the loudspeakers – not like in Lemoore where the Ghost arrived to the happy, carefree sound of Los Lonely Boys before losing to Gamaliel Diaz. And instead of flashing crowd-pleasing smiles as he did during introductions before that December loss that cost him the NABF Featherweight title, Guerrero looked straight ahead, keeping a stone-jawed look of determination and focus as he loosened up in the ring before facing Marcos.
Was this Guerrero changing his image in his return? Yes, but without being image-conscious as he was before his bout against Diaz.
“Basically, I got caught up in the hype,” Guerrero said about his first loss.
The hype surrounding the Gilroy native’s being the heir apparent to the world featherweight title. Not that the title is out of Guerrero’s reach. But he won’t earn it just by getting into the ring, as the Diaz upset showed. By what Guerrero displayed at the Tank in his Bay Area debut, it appears he now understands that. Thursday’s fight wasn’t about looking good. It was about getting back to business and climbing back into the top-five of the WBC featherweight rankings. That’s where Guerrero, now ranked No. 7, was before he lost to Diaz.
Marcos wasn’t as formidable an opponent as Diaz by any means, but that didn’t stop Guerrero from treating him as such. And that’s the way he needs to enter every fight.
If there is one indicator that could prove Guerrero would have beaten Diaz had his head been in the title fight, it’s how the two fighters both fared against Marcos, their only common opponent. Diaz beat Marcos by a unanimous decision after 10 rounds in January 2005. Guerrero took down the 32-year-old by TKO in the third round at the Tank.
The Ghost, who was tentative and hesitated to push the tempo against Diaz, brought back the aggression against Marcos. The Mazatlan, Mexico native might have been the competitor in the fight known for how hard he can hit, with 21 career KO’s. But Guerrero never allowed Marcos to show that power. The young fighter was smart and he followed a plan, but attacked when the opportunity was there. And he wanted to do more.
“I didn’t have enough time to do it all,” Guerrero said, noting how quickly the fight ended.
But he accomplished one of the most important things: Returning strong from his first loss.
