Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero has maximized his time in the forests of Lake Tahoe, rising early in hopes of shining brightly when he encounters Selcuk Aydin in a 12-round fight for the vacant WBC Interim Welterweight world championship just 11 days from now at HP Pavilion in San Jose.
“It’s been a grueling training camp since I arrived four weeks ago,” Guerrero said this week. “There’s no cable TV, no busy streets, nothing, just a whole lot of forest and mountains.
“I get up at 5 a.m. every morning to start my road work,” Guerrero continued. “I follow that by a hard workout in the middle of the day, then end with push-ups and sit-ups at night. I’m getting the proper sparring and amount of rounds to get me ready for Aydin, who I know is coming to rip my head off. I’m expecting a rough, rugged fight and the fans will not want to miss it. I can guarantee that.”
Guerrero (29-1-1 18 KOs) is expected to return from his extended training camp later this week. Meanwhile, Aydin moved his training camp from Stuttgart, Germany to San Jose at the beginning of the month in preparation for the July 28 clash.
“This is the big chance and the big fight I have been waiting and working for,” Aydin said.
“I will not let this opportunity pass. I give my respect to Robert Guerrero for fighting me when so many other so-called champions have ducked me for years. Unfortunately, Guerrero will find out the hard way why nobody wants to fight me. I will walk right through ‘The Ghost’ and take the belt back home to Turkey.”
Aydin has already completed more than 50 rounds of sparring and will end up having done about100 rounds before wrapping up training camp.
“I had no problems adjusting to everything here in California,” Aydin said.
“I have trained and fought in the United States before and it feels natural to be here. Boxing is an international sport and the United States is the place to be for big fights and big money.”
Guerrero, who is on a 14-match winning streak and in search of a title in a fourth different weight class, is well-aware of Aydin’s come-forward style, facing a similar fighter in Michael Katsidis last year.
“My team and I have been studying all of Aydin’s fights and we know where we can take advantage of his flaws,” Guerrero said.
“Aydin is very strong and puts a tremendous amount of pressure on all of his opponents. I can see why he’s been avoided. But I’m ready to take him on even though nobody else wants to.”
NOTES: Guerrero-Aydin is presented by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Arena-Box Promotion and sponsored by Corona, DeWalt Tools and AT&T.
The Showtime Championship Boxing telecast will air live at 10p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) with co-featured events to be announced and preliminary fights to air live on Showtime Extreme at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Tickets, priced at $252, $127, $62 and $26, are available for purchase at the HP Pavilion box office, by calling 1-800-745-3000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.
