Robert
”
the Ghost
”
Guerrero knew he couldn’t leave anything to chance … or to the
judges.
Robert “the Ghost” Guerrero knew he couldn’t leave anything to chance … or to the judges.
So the Gilroy fighter took matters into his own hands Friday and regained the International Boxing Federation featherweight title by stopping Spend Abazi at the Falconer Center in Copenhagen, Denmark. Guerrero battered Abazi for eight rounds before he quit after the eighth round with bleeding around the right eye and nose.
“I said I had to blow this guy out of the water and that’s what we did,” Guerrero said by telephone from Denmark. “I used my reach to keep him on the outside. It was an all-day ticket setting him up.”
Guerrero, 23, knocked down Abazi in the third and fifth rounds with a jab-straight left combination each time and dominated the scheduled 12-round fight before it was stopped. It was Guerrero’s first fight outside of the United States.
“He was a strong fighter,” Guerrero said. “He took some real good shots. It was a matter of me being a smarter fighter and doing what I grew up doing. I worked on the outside and used my reach (advantage). It worked out well.”
Guerrero recaptured the title he lost Nov. 4 to Orlando Salido. The Nevada Athletic Commission suspended Salido after he tested positive for steroids, and the title became vacant. As the two highest-rated contenders, the IBF mandated a fight between Guerrero and Abazi.
Guerrero is now 20-2-1 with 13 knockouts. Abazi, 28, fell to 35-2, suffering his first loss in six years. It was the first time the Albanian-born Abazi had been stopped.
Guerrero returns to Gilroy today where he will get his first look at his son, Robert Joseph Guerrero, Jr.
“He’s healthy and strong,” Guerrero said of his son. “I can’t wait to meet him.”
In an undercard bout, unbeaten junior welterweight Reda Zam Zam (23-0, 10 KOs) shut out Maxim Nesterenko (46-10-2, 28 KOs) over eight rounds winning 80-72 on all cards.
