Boxing: ‘Hungry’ Guerrero ready for Kamegai

After more than a year of being out of the ring, Robert ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero is back and ready to fight. 
Guerrero (31-2-1, 18 KOs) will make his return for a 12-round bout against Yoshihiro Kamegai of Japan on June 21 at the StubHub Center in Carson for SHOWTIME Championship Boxing. It’s Guerrero’s first fight since losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 4, 2013.
“When you have that type of layoff, a year, you get hungry—you starve,” Guerrero said. “You want to get out there and you’re excited; you’re refreshed. You want to be back in that ring. You have to go in there with 100 percent confidence and do your job.” 
With such a lengthy layoff, Guerrero said a little “ring rust” is to be expected. But the Gilroy native has been doing his best to combat it. He’s capitalized on his downtime by staying in shape and incorporating CrossFit training into his workouts. 
“My endurance is like through the roof. I’m excited to go out there and put everything together—my boxing skills and then the strength and conditioning done by CrossFit,” he said. “I think it’s a great match and I can’t wait to get out there and fight.”
His opponent, the 24-1-1 (21 KOs) Kamegai, has been training specifically for Guerrero. Kamegai said he sees Guerrero’s long layoff as a non-factor and is expecting him to bring his best.
“I have not gone into (a fight with) someone with that high of a level, so I’m looking at it as going into a challenge,” Kamegai said. “He’s had a long layoff before and I saw his fight after that and he came in a very good condition, so I expect him to be the condition that he’s always been in. I’ve trained and conditioned myself to fight the best Robert Guerrero that’s out there.”
Likewise, Guerrero has been studying his opponent and doesn’t expect Kamegai to go down easily. The Japanese fighter is a known slugger and the fight could easily turn from a boxing match into a punching contest. Either way, Guerrero said he’s prepared.
“Just look at his record—21 knockouts. He comes to put you out,” Guerrero said. “I’m going to go out there and stick to my game plan. You’ve got to be smart in the ring. I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do. If it comes to a boxing match, it’ll be a boxing match. If it comes to a slug match, I’m always game for a slug match.”
All eyes will be on the Gilroy boxer as he looks to rebound from his loss to Mayweather. Guerrero said he’s put that fight behind him and has his sights set on the man in front of him—Kamegai.
“The main focus is Saturday night,” Guerrero said. “Like I said, I was out for a year, there’s always that ring rust. You want to focus on the guy in front of you and worry about everything after. …
I lost to the best fighter in the world. You want to get better, you want to get stronger, you want to get faster.”
Guerrero and Kamegai will face-off at 7 p.m. June 21 and will be broadcast live on SHOWTIME. Tickets are still available and range from $25-150. 
Gary Russell Jr. (24-0) faces Vasyl Lomachenko (1-1) of Ukraine in the co-main event. They will square off for the vacant WBO World Featherweight Title in a 12-round bout.
Devon Alexander (25-2-0) takes on Jesus Soto Karass (28-9-3) for a 10-round super welterweight fight.