Gilroy boxing champion has chance to reclaim title
International Boxing Federation champion Robert
”
The Ghost
”
Guerrero is spending his time these days in Los Angles training
for his Feb. 23 fight in Denmark against Spend Abazi. And he
couldn’t be more excited to have the chance to win his world title
belt back less than 120 days after losing it to Mexico’s Orlando
Salido.
Gilroy boxing champion has chance to reclaim title
International Boxing Federation champion Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero is spending his time these days in Los Angles training for his Feb. 23 fight in Denmark against Spend Abazi. And he couldn’t be more excited to have the chance to win his world title belt back less than 120 days after losing it to Mexico’s Orlando Salido.
“I’m going to go there and take advantage of the opportunity to fight for the world title again,” said the 23-year-old fighter from Gilroy. “I’m going to be well-rounded and well-prepared.”
Just days after losing to Salido in Las Vegas in a nationally televised fight on Showtime, Guerrero learned that the IBF had opted to vacate the featherweight title after it was discovered that Salido had tested positive for illegal steroids.
The discovery allowed the former champ to vault to the top of the IBF ranking list, which paved way for next month’s fight against Abazi, the No. 4 ranked challenger. Guerrero is currently ranked No. 3 in the IBF since the top two rankings were vacated after the controversial bout.
This time Guerrero plans to make the best of his once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because he understands that had Salido not tested positive for the illegal substance his road to getting another title shot could have taken two years.
“I’m going to bring the title back home,” said Guerrero. “I’m out here working hard and I’m excited.”
Guerrero is expected to continue his intense training in Los Angles before heading to Denmark a few weeks before the fight.
As of this week, Guerrero had yet to see his next opponent on film and didn’t know a lot about him.
What he does know is that Abazi has a record of 35-1. Although Abazi’s record is impressive, Guerrero will enter the ring with a 5-inch height advantage, which he plans to capitalize on.
“The added height can be a huge advantage,” said Guerrero, who is 5-foot-10. “The game plan is to go in there and use my height and reach advantage to establish the jab and work off of that. I know that’s he’s a tough fighter though. I haven’t seen any tape on him but I will in the next few days.”
Guerrero enters the bout with a professional record of 19-1-1, 12 via KO.
While Guerrero holds the distinct height and reach advantage one huge advantage for his opponent is the fight’s location. In this bout, Guerrero isn’t expected to have a friendly crowd backing him that he usually gets in his bouts in the U.S.
“It’s in his backyard so I’m definitely going to have to be on top of it,” he said.
The fight will be broadcast throughout Europe and discussions are currently under way to broadcast it on a pay-per-view channel in the U.S.
If Guerrero’s fans in the area are able to see the fight one thing he promising they will see is a more aggressive game plan than what he used in the ring against Salido.
“I’m working on a lot more combination shots and my height and reach to my advantage,” he said. “I’m going to use all of my God-given attributes. Right now things are going great and I’ll be ready.”
