Marcos never had a chance
The first time I covered a professional boxing match, I vowed
that it would be my last time. The constant specks of blood that
intermittently rained down on my notebook coupled with the beads of
sweat that flew off every fighter’s head like they were caught up
in some sort of Wizard of Oz-style tornado before either landing on
my clothes, arms or in my soft drink was enough for me.
Marcos never had a chance
The first time I covered a professional boxing match, I vowed that it would be my last time. The constant specks of blood that intermittently rained down on my notebook coupled with the beads of sweat that flew off every fighter’s head like they were caught up in some sort of Wizard of Oz-style tornado before either landing on my clothes, arms or in my soft drink was enough for me.
Now when I go to a fight, I make sure to sit back a handful of rows past even the most Superman-like flying body fluids.
That’s why last Thursday night I was glad to be about 30 rows back from the action when Gilroy’s Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero connected on a monstrous left uppercut in the second round that sent Sandro Marcos’ blood spewing several rows out into the crowd. The fight was stopped in the third round.
Guerrero’s stellar performance at the Fight Night at the Tank event in San Jose capped off a five-bout card that had been rather uneventful until Guerrero turned it up a notch in front of the local fans.
Up until that point, I didn’t know if I should focus my writing solely on the girls in the skimpy attire that hold the Round cards, the concessions at the fight or the hodge podge of characters that fought in the earlier bouts.
But the Gilroy High grad showed why the focus should be on him. Clearly, he was head and shoulders above everyone else.
It used to be that the scariest thing in the Bay Area was the Winchester Mystery House. It appears now that the only ghost to fear is the one from Gilroy.
The win moved the 23-year-old fighter to 17-1-1 and put him back on track for a title fight sometime within the next year. In watching Guerrero, it quickly became clear what separates the best from the rest when it comes to boxing: speed.
Technique and fundamentals can be taught but its all useless terminology without the God-given speed to pull the trigger when an opening arises or be able to box out of it when trouble is lurking.
Guerrero was able to rip off combination shots, upper cuts and relentless jabs that caught his opponent off guard from the opening bell. And when it looked like he was getting into any kind of troublesome situation, he boxed his way out of it before any damage could be done. It was the mergence of sound technique coupled with explosive speed.
Sugar Ray Leonard had it. Muhammad Ali had it. And clearly Robert Guerrero does too.
Speed kills. And Guerrero’s speed is what prevented Marcos from doing anything.
Of course it didn’t hurt to have some 4,000 fans in his corner chanting, “Robert, Robert, Robert…”
Fans in this area needed something to cheer about after seeing their beloved Sharks get eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs the night before.
Guerrero gave them their wish. Although many would have liked to have seen the fight go on a little longer, especially after suffering through the boring bouts that took place early on, they were all thrilled to see “The Ghost” from Gilroy out-spook his opponent.
And something tells me Guerrero would have won this fight even if it were in Mazatlan, Mexico, Marcos’ hometown.
bottom line is that “The Ghost” is on the brink of becoming boxing’s next star. He’s smart. He’s fast and has polished skills. And he’s a crafty businessman too.
On the back of his red-and-white trunks read the words RobertGuerrero.com. After last week’s bout, there’s no doubt that the Ghost from Gilroy had a few more clicks on his site. In this sport, knockouts do the talking and Guerrero now has 10, which will make a few more higher ups in the WBA, WBC and IBF take notice of the haunting southpaw.
