Robert Guerrero will face IBF champ Eric Aiken in Los
Angeles
As a young child stepping into the boxing ring for the first
time at the tender age of 9, Gilroy’s Robert
”
The Ghost
”
Guerrero remembers dreaming that he would one day be fighting
for a world title.
Fourteen years later and that dream fight is now a reality.
On Saturday, Sept. 2 the 23-year-old North American Boxing
Federation Champion from the Garlic Capital of the World will be
fighting for the International Boxing Federation Featherweight
Championship of the world when he takes on defending IBF champion
Eric
”
Mighty Mouse
”
Aiken at the Staples Center in Los Angles.
Robert Guerrero will face IBF champ Eric Aiken in Los Angeles
As a young child stepping into the boxing ring for the first time at the tender age of 9, Gilroy’s Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero remembers dreaming that he would one day be fighting for a world title.
Fourteen years later and that dream fight is now a reality.
On Saturday, Sept. 2 the 23-year-old North American Boxing Federation Champion from the Garlic Capital of the World will be fighting for the International Boxing Federation Featherweight Championship of the world when he takes on defending IBF champion Eric “Mighty Mouse” Aiken at the Staples Center in Los Angles.
“As soon as I heard I was getting to fight Eric Aiken it was like, man this is the fight I’ve been waiting for since I was 9,” said Guerrero, who is currently ranked 11th by the IBF.
Guerrero’s bout will be part of a night of boxing that will be broadcast live on Showtime Championship Boxing. The main event will be a heavyweight elimination bout between James “Lights Out” Toney and Sam “The Nigerian” Nightmare.
Heading into the title bout against Aiken, Guerrero, 18-1-1, is expected to be in great physical shape as a result of his two recent bouts.
In May, he picked up a TKO victory over Sandros Marcos and followed that up by knocking out Gamaliel Diaz in a NABF title rematch in June. That win was the fight that allowed Guerrero to get this world title shot.
Heading into the title bout with Aiken, 16-4 with 12 KOs, Gilroy’s 5-foot-10 southpaw will have a three-inch height advantage. Aiken, however, will have a longer reach. And even though Aiken is 5-foot-7, that’s still taller than a number of the boxers that Guerrero has fought in the 126-pound division.
Recently, Guerrero had a chance to break down his next opponent on film.
“He’s a big puncher and he fights tall,” Guerrero said. “He’s got a long arm reach but there are a lot of flaws in his fighting too. He makes a lot of mistakes. He’s also a rough, tough fighter though. He’s the world champ and he won’t want to let it go.”
In a recent radio interview, Aiken said that he would knock “The Ghost” out but Guerrero isn’t buying it.
“A lot of people talk and try to hype themselves up,” he said. “I’m not one to say that. I just go in there and stick to my game plan. If I had a nickel for every time a guy said that he was going to knock me out, I’d be rich and retired right now.”
Guerrero also knows that fighting the reigning world champion won’t be an easy task and he’s already planning ways to guard against Aiken’s long reach.
“He can reach me from a further distance,” Guerrero said. “What I like is that he’s tall so his body is right there. With a lot of other fighters I’ve got to crouch to hit body shots. With a taller fighter it’s easier to land body shots.”
In preparations for the bout Guerrero has been “running hard, getting in a lot of bag work and sharpening everything up.”
“The good thing is that I’m already in shape because of the two fights that I just had,” Guerrero said. “Now it’s all about staying in the gym and maintaining my focus and game plan.”
Although the fight will take place a five-hour drive to the south, it is expected that Guerrero should have an ample amount of supporters cheering him on.
And if Guerrero wins, he plans on single those fans out.
“All of my support and fan base is from Gilroy and the Bay Area,” Guerrero said. “They’ve supported me from day one and have been waiting for this fight as long as I have. They’ve been following me in the papers from the time I was 9 until now. They’re just as excited as me.”
Two fans that Guerrero knows will be there are his wife and 16-month-old daughter.
“They’ll be right there at ringside watching,” he said. “Everyone is real excited. This is my dream.”
After this fight, Guerrero plans on defending his IBF title and also hopes to one day own both the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association belts as well.
“There are a lot of world titles out there that I want to capture,” he said.
Somehow, you get the feeling that the sky’s the limit for the up-and-coming phenom.
Tickets for the fight are priced from $50 to $300 and are available at the Staples Center box office or through www.ticketmaster.com.
