After one fight, 15-year-old Randy Guerrero, the newest edition
in a family of boxers wants the cake and he’s going to eat it
too.
By Greg Chapman Staff Writer
Gilroy – After one fight, 15-year-old Randy Guerrero, the newest edition in a family of boxers wants the cake and he’s going to eat it too.
Following former and current champions would be enough to stop many in their tracks, but Randy is excited that his boxing career is getting started and says he will pursue an olympic gold medal.
“It’s a new thing for me, I want to enjoy it,” Guerrero said. “It feels good, all my uncles say I’m talented. They think I’m the up and coming fighter.”
The competitive nature of the sport brought Randy into the ring, not to mention his brother, Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero, who gets Randy’s blood flowing when he watches him fight.
Still, there was a time when Randy wasn’t concerned with pursuing boxing. There was a time when he used to come into the Gilroy Youth Center only to watch “The Ghost” train, or just hang out.
Randy’s father and trainer, Ruben, never pushed his youngest son into boxing, letting him decide to choose the sport himself. But, Randy had to be serious if he wanted to get into the ring.
“I told him, ‘whenever you’re ready to box, let me know,'” said Ruben, a two-time Golden Gloves champion in San Francisco and Texas.
He decided to get serious about his boxing career in January, and started training for the first time.
Randy said his father told him that it was his decision to make, but warned him it was a lot of hard work and required dedication.
Since, Randy has dropped baseball, basketball and track. He was a five-time all-star in baseball, was the basketball MVP for South Valley Middle School and ran track for two years to stay in shape.
“(You) can only be good at one thing,” Ruben said. “I told him, ‘you’ve got what it takes, you’ve just got to want it.'”
In Ruben’s eyes, Randy is coming into the sport at the right age, stating that 13-15 are the best ages to begin. Randy has already gotten off to a good start by becoming the 2007 119-pound Boxing Champion at the Hollister Motorcycle Rally.
After sparring at the Bulldog Boxing Gym in Hollister, local trainer Zeek Lopez noticed Randy and felt he was capable of competing at an exhibition match at the Rally.
With only two weeks to get ready, Randy prepared for his first fight and the rest is history.
“I trained hard, things improved and the results came out in the ring,” Randy said.
There weren’t any nerves or butterflies, just excitement as Randy got in between the ropes, jumping around and throwing punches.
Ruben said fighters usually get nervous or tense when it’s their first actual bout. In his 35 years of being around the fight-game, he has seen fighters freeze up, but Ruben knew Randy was ready.
“You could see it in his eyes. He had fire in his eyes. He was ready to go.”
Randy says his mentality is to beat whoever is in his way. Winning was all he was thinking about as he kept telling himself, “All this hard work, I’ve got to win.”
The focus going into the fight was putting his defense, punches and movement all together at the same time.
Ruben had a feeling Randy would have a good experience in his first fight, but didn’t think he would put on such a performance.
“(He) took the whole cake, and didn’t leave it up to the judges.”
Randy won the three-round bout by unanimous decision.
“I think Randy is going to follow his brother and become a world champion,” Ruben said.
Discipline, no fear, strong will, quick feet and intelligence are the qualities Ruben says are necessary for the accomplishment. While watching Randy in the ring, Ruben saw them all.
“If you have all that, you’ve got a good chance to become a world champion,” Ruben said.
For now, Randy’s goal is winning an Olympic gold medal.
When asked how bad he wants it, he replied, “Oh, I want it bad. That’s what keeps me thriving in the gym. Fight by fight, day by day.”
