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Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero is back in action on this Friday night’s Showbox telecast on Showtime, scheduled to air at 11 pm EST, and he’ll be in with a tough former Mexican champion by the name of Adrian Valdez. Guerrero will be defending his NABF featherweight crown for the first time since winning the belt by knocking out another tough veteran, Cesar Figueroa, in four torrid rounds. There’s another |
barnburner on the card with two of the best in women’s boxing, Jessica Rakoczy meeting Belinda Laracuente for the vacant women’s NABA lightweight championship. All in all a fine night of boxing leading up to Showtime’s stellar cruiserweight showdown on Saturday night at 11 pm which pits WBA kingpin Jean Mark Mormeck against WBC titlist Wayne Braithwaite. This is the kind of fight weekend on television that used to be the norm in decades past but here’s hoping that industry leader Showtime will continue this trend and give the fans the fights they really want to see.
Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero is fast becoming one of the top contenders in the talent laden featherweight division. The Gilroy, California native has successfully punched his way through fifteen straight bouts with only his match-up with Julian Rodriguez being declared a first round technical draw when Rodriguez was unable to continue after getting hit on a break. The fact that the five-foot-ten southpaw has only just turned twenty-two years of age is remarkable given his achievements so far.
Aside from the draw with Rodriguez, Guerrero belted out three straight tough Mexican journeymen within two rounds before meeting a very good fighter in Enrique Sanchez in June of last year. Many thought that the youngster’s team had bitten off more than they could chew with the selection of Sanchez who had previously given Marco Antonio Barrera, Nestor Garza and Rafael Del Valle difficult fights.
Such doubts proved unfounded however as Guerrero handled the veteran without undue difficulty and cruised to an eighth round stoppage victory. The thorough domination of Figueroa followed and proved that “The Ghost” was by no means just another over-hyped apparition. Suddenly the kid had arrived as a serious contender to the featherweight throne.
Guerrero’s opponent in Friday’s contest is another certified hard case, this time former Mexican super bantamweight champion Adrian Valdez, 16-3-3 (9). The man from Juarez gave another unbeaten hot prospect, Irishman Bernard Dunne, the scare of his life last August and many in attendance had Valdez winning the bout. The judges at ringside felt otherwise however and gave Dunne a relatively close unanimous decision.
Aside from an early domestic stoppage loss, Valdez has only dropped one other bout and that was to former Olympian Clarence Vinson who in his professional debut out-boxed the Mexican in four rounds. Currently Valdez is on a roll having stopped his last two opponents including former world champ Cesar Soto in the first round last October in his hometown of Juarez.
Should Robert Guerrero smash his way through this tough roadblock the path to a world title shot will be riddled with other difficult obstacles, but the lanky kid from Gilroy, California has a lot going for him, including an unshakable Christian faith in his higher power. With backing like that, who needs luck?
Richard Eberline can be reached at richardeberline@fastmail.fm
