Nine days stand between Gilroy native Robert
”
The Ghost
”
Guerrero and Martin
”
El Brochas
”
Honorio, who on Nov. 3 will stand toe to toe and unleash a
torrent of blows to each other’s head and body.
Nine days stand between Gilroy native Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero and Martin “El Brochas” Honorio, who on Nov. 3 will stand toe to toe and unleash a torrent of blows to each other’s head and body.
On Wednesday, the two were far more cordial, separated by almost 2,000 miles but united for the first time on a media conference call in anticipation of Guerrero’s IBF Featherweight title defense. Also included on the call were main event fighters Juan Manuel Marquez (WBC Super Featherweight champion), challenger Rocky Juarez, and Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya.
Both Guerrero (20-1-1, 13 KOs) and Honorio (24-3-1, 12 KOs) said they know the stakes are high, but their answers differed on what it would mean to emerge victorious.
“I win this fight, it means a lot,” Guerrero said. “It means a title defense for me; it will catapult me into bigger fights. Maybe I can get a fight in a main event. Or fight with (Manny) Pacquiao – get into bigger fights, bigger names … get that shot to become a superstar in the sport.”
For Honorio, a win would propel the Mexico City-based boxer closer to the level Guerrero is currently at.
“It’s very important to me,” Honorio said through an interpreter. “It’s the single most important thing in my career. It would be the beginning of bigger, better things. It would be the beginning of a dream come true. With a victory, it would be a flip of the coin for the better, for me.”
With an extra six weeks to train and study film after the fight was postponed, Honorio and Guerrero each said neither fighter should be entering the ring with any uncertainties.
“Martin Honorio, he’s had more than enough time to get ready for this fight and so have I,” Guerrero said. “We’ve both done our homework. I know he’s ready. I’m ready. So, it’s gonna be great fight. It’s gonna be a good rough, tough fight.”
“I’m a professional and when the date got changed, basically, it gave me a little more time to study my opponent and get ready for him,” Honorio said. “I’m not gonna have any excuses.”
De La Hoya, whose company arranged for both bouts to be moved to Tucson, Ariz. and be broadcast on Showtime rather than Golden Boy’s traditional HBO PPV setting, said he thinks the fight could be a launching pad for Guerrero to become a bigger name in boxing.
“Obviously, Robert “the Ghost” Guerrero, he’s a fighter that I’ve been very intrigued with,” De La Hoya said. “His discipline and his technique, he’s a fighter that’s world champion and he’s been doing a great job at it.
“This fight also means the winner is gonna move on to bigger and better things. You know, all (four) fighters have a tough test ahead of them. In the back of their mind, they know that there is bigger and better things for them with a win. So, can Robert the Ghost Guerrero fight the winner (of the main event)? We’ll have to wait and see. Will he fight bigger fights? Absolutely.
Being the business man that he is though, De la Hoya attached a clause to that claim.
“If he wins.”
